A Team of Wild Horses
by beartooth
Summary: Sequel to One Trick Pony. Ranma finally decides to act on the dreams he has of an upcoming icy catastrophe. Little does he know how he and his family will play an intricate part in the coming final days. Ranma x Kasumi, plus Sailor Moon crossover.
1. Chapter 1

_Author's note: Okay, I've decided to commit and go round 2 with this story. It turns out I'm a chicken of a writer and for better or worse (worse most likely), I don't have a Beta because if I'm forced to think twice about the story, I probably won't write it... I should warn you, the updates to this one will be much slower than One Trick Pony, as I hardly have any time to commit to writing this, but...I'd like to give it a try._

_So, will you like it? Don't know, but if you don't, just hit the back button and look for something you like better. _

_Is it better than One Trick Pony? Maybe, maybe not, but I'd like to write a little more, and since you liked the first one, I thought I'd give it another try._

_I've been warned that I'm biting off more than I can chew with this, but I can't think of any other way to write it. I have an outline, and as I've said with One Trick Pony, I will complete this...it may just take some time. I'll also freely admit that my knowledge of the Sailor Moon series is based solely on my reading in Ranma fanfics, so if I screw up some facts...oh well...for gosh sakes, it is after all just a story!  
_

_Positive reviews are welcome, but I've found that negative ones have little impact on my story, as once I start going, I finish it out as is, with very little modifications. I've thought a lot about the plot, and I think that it is passable. So hopefully you'll enjoy the ride, and not be too disappointed in the journey.  
_

* * *

**Chapter 1  
**

Setsuna Meio hated this part of her job. The Princess of Pluto had once again dragged herself to the Time Gates to do her weekly review for any events which might affect the outcome of Crystal Tokyo. She let out a tired sigh as she lay down on the couch in front of the Gate. _I'd rather be watching a big screen TV, not this thing again_ she thought to herself. _At least I finally got a really comfy couch. Five to six hours a shot, once a week, 52 weeks a year for 14,000 years _she mentally tallied. It made this one extremely repetitive task. Oh sure, there were times when it got interesting, sort of like a puzzle to see which pieces get to be moved where to get the outcome she wanted. Unfortunately the novelty wore off long, long, long ago and now it was the tedious job of looking for low probability outcomes.

The Princess of Pluto had become quite proficient at scanning possible time lines, she scrolled through outcomes looking for significant threats as she sat on her couch looking at the gate. Nobody, except maybe Rei, actually ever stopped to think about what it meant to use the Time Gate. Oh sure, she could get a good idea of what would happen tomorrow, after all, there weren't that many temporal paths that led to that many significant variations in what will happen tomorrow. The problem was looking farther and farther ahead. As you tried to look into next week or next month, the possible outcomes multiplied at a geometric rate, to the point that all she ever could really do is scan a few and see if something so big was going to occur that it occupied most of the time lines.

This long at any task tends to put you into somewhat of a rut. Long ago she learned to do the most unpleasant task of your week first, then you could enjoy the rest of the week. She inwardly shrugged and continued reviewing the scans. With Crystal Tokyo hovering between 98 and 99 percent for the past six months or so, even the normally boring scans had gotten even more boring, but she did it still because that was her job, and if there was one thing that had kept her going all these years, it was her commitment to the job.

In the past few years, as the true threats had appeared less and less, she finally caved in to the guilty pleasure of playing with less-significant outcomes. She grinned as she recalled some of the less important threats that she had dealt with just for the fun of it. Sure, they only affected the odds of Crystal Tokyo by a half percent or less, but that did technically make them a threat (or so she rationalized). It was amazing how the smallest of nudges could have the most amazing results.

Take that time when she appeared to a younger Michael Jackson. She pretended she was a dream (of course teleporting in front of him helped that impression greatly). All she had to tell him is that it would help his career if he could change his physical appearance slightly. Wooo! Look where that one led! Or introducing that Brittney Spears to the party life that one evening...

_Oh well, back to work_ she thought as she started reviewing the daily scans...

Monday...Nothing, no significant divergence from the current probabilities

Tuesday...Nothing, no significant divergence from the current probabilities

Wednesday...Nothing, no significant divergence from the current probabilities

Thursday...A .04 drop, not worth messing with. She had found that it needed to be at least a 5 drop for her to need to _adjust_ things.

Friday, Saturday, Sunday...Nothing, no significant divergence from the current probabilities

She then shifted to the weekly scans, nothing popping up there either. Probabilities dancing within 2, which was just temporal noise. The Time Gates were good, without them she would never had gotten things to line up so well for the future. Each week she sat here and had the gates scan timelines and show her the ones that had anything less than a 95 probability of Crystal Tokyo occurring. Little did anybody know how close that future was. She checked the gates for the beginning of the end and found it still to be 6 months away when the first Earth Scientists would notice the new Asteroid out beyond Jupiter. It would take them a few weeks to notice the abnormal orbit, and then a full month for them to release that it might be headed toward Earth. Of course there was nothing they could do about Nemesis, and even with all of their preparations, they would only save a small fraction of Earth's population...just enough to seed Crystal Tokyo.

Setsuna turned away from the time gates and once again found comfort in the fact that at least she was providing _some_ safe future for humanity. Sure she would have liked things to work out better than how they were going to turn out, but it was the best she could do, and she had worked hard...too hard...at making sure at least something survived.

Of course, anyone who has ever been involved with computers can tell you, when things don't work, it's usually for a reason you never...ever...planned for.

Riku Saotome was following his brother and sister to school. As usual, they were both walking the fence, trying to knock the other off as they ran along its edge.

"Come on up Riku" yelled Ranko.

"Yeah, Riku come on! What's wrong today?" Asked Daitaro, his older brother.

Riku usually joined his older siblings in this habit. After all, his father had made the point that everything could be turned into training. And truth be told, the fence walk was a fun way to pass the time on the way to school. Lately, school seemed kind of ... empty. He knew his brother and sister wouldn't agree, as far as they were concerned, school was the ultimate playground.

At 17, his older sister Ranko was doing well in school. All of them had a unique blend of their fathers and mothers traits. Their physical skill they clearly inherited from their father, but few people in Nerima would have suspected at how smart Kasumi Tendo was, or how much her children would inherit her talents. For that matter, few in Nerima knew how talented Ranma was as well. One thing Kasumi managed to teach Ranma is the very lesson Nabiki learned all too well…knowledge is power, and the less people know about you the better. Needless to say, it meant for a relatively easy time in school The one difference between him and his older siblings was that he seemed to take after his mother, personality wise, while Ranko and 15 year old Dai, had the brash personalities of his dad. Because of this, they had no shortage of friends at school, but Riku was starting to feel a little cut off from his more outgoing brother and sister. They may not have been going to Furinkan High like their parents, but even so, their High School was still pretty chaotic. With the large amounts of chaos that naturally seemed to follow the Saotome line, Riku was sometimes just forgotten.

"Nothing, just don't feel like it today" he finally answered as he trudged along.

"No really, what's been with you lately" his sister asked as she flipped off the fence to land in front of him. "I'm starting to worry about you Riku, what gives?"

Riku just looked forward, continuing to walk on, "Don't know, just tired of school...you know..."

Ranko hopped down next to her little brother. "No, we don't. Come on, talk to us."

Riku stopped, closed his eyes and rolled his head back. He really couldn't talk to his parents, but maybe to his brother and sister. "I..." he started. His siblings stood patiently for him to find the words. "I don't know, it's just I feel...kind of...forgotten. Somehow, you two draw off all of the attention, and by the time I get to a grade, I'm just another 'wonder Saotome'. People aren't impressed by the things I can do after you two, they expect it of me. It's even hard to find friends, because they've already decided that I'm different, so they kind of...stay away."

Ranko looked first at Dai, then back at Riku. She knew it was hard on him at times, she just thought he was handling it better than he was. Life was challenging enough being the child of Ranma Saotome, and one thing they seemed to all inherit from their father was his lack of people skills. Ranko smiled inwardly, well actually, it was Riku who was most like their mother, but he was the one in trouble. "Look Riku, we're sorry, we don't try to make it hard on you."

"I know, I know. I didn't say you did. You two are great, it's just you can't change everybody else..."

Dai moved closer to Riku, "Yeah sorry Riku, I kind of know what you mean. I noticed a little bit after following Ranko through school, but it wasn't too bad, plus I was the first male Saotome they'd seen, so their was still some novelty for them."

They proceeded along in silence. Both of the two older children knew what their brother was upset about, yet they could find nothing to say to help him.

As they approached their school grounds, shouts of "Dai" and "Ranko" rang through the crowds milling outside of the main entrance. Each child inwardly counted the lack of greetings shouted to their youngest brother. It was a painful reminder of just how right Riku was about his situation. Each of them was quickly surrounded by their friends who rattled off the days plans. They watched their younger brother walk through the crowd, seemingly unnoticed. Eventually he passed through the main doors and they lost sight of him. They quickly made eye contact and each had the same thought _We need to do something, soon..._

_--  
_  
Ranma leaned back to escape a viscous kick directed to his jaw. The kick was followed by a foot trying to sweep him off of his feet, but he quickly launched himself into a back flip and struck at his opponent with several Amuguriken speed punches to try to throw the attack off, but his opponent continued to press the attack scoring two shoulder hits and a foot to his midsection as he made contact with the ground. He was ready for both and then the two combatants bounced, weaved and jumped across the floor, walls and sometime even the ceiling of the chamber they were fighting in.

Few of the martial artists in the area could have followed their erratic dance. Occasionally an "ooof" of air would escape one or the other as a surprise hit was scored. Eventually a small "ding" sounded and Ranma finally cracked a smile. This was his favorite part, the last 10 minutes of the spar were true anything goes, and that included Ki attacks.

"Moko Takabashi" he yelled as a brilliant orb of energy flashed from his hands toward his opponent, only to crash against an invisible shield doing no harm to the intended target. His opponent also launched an attack "Double Moko Takabashi", with one streak headed straight toward him, but the other one moving off too his right. Ranma raised his own shield up and the attack, like his before, crashed against his defenses.

"Nice try" he grinned. "You're getting pretty good with those late..." he began, before having the second apparent wayward Ki blast strike him from behind, knocking him forward and into the arms of his waiting opponent. "What the?" he asked as he looked around, wondering where the second attack came from.

"Anything goes, right Ranma?" Kasumi asked as she held her husband.

"How the heck did you pull that off?" he asked her

Kasumi produced a sly, but gentle smile. "I know the walls here are designed to absorb Ki, but I was playing around the other day with variations on your attack. It turns out that if you do this..." she held one hand out and a small sphere of Ki appeared. "You get your normal attack, but if you shift it ever so slightly..." she extended her other hand and a seemingly identical ball of Ki appeared.

Ranma stared at the two spheres and then raised his eyebrows. At first glance they looked identical, but as he attuned his senses to the two orbs he noticed a subtle, but important different in the second one. In his days with Kasumi in that other world, Ranma had dug deeply into the archives of the Amazons and learned a lot about Ki. It turned out that one of the reasons that different emotions fueled different attacks is that each leant it's own unique "frequency" of Ki to the attack. This often revealed itself to the naked eye as different colors, but there were fundamental differences in the way that the Ki was used.

Kasumi had managed to somehow modify one of the confidence-based Ki spheres and put a different "spin" on the Ki. His eyebrows shot up as he realized the impact of the modification. "Ah, I see, this one isn't absorbed by the wood, it bounces off instead! Wow, nice job Kas-chan".

Kasumi's small smile grew even larger. She new that when Ranma actually delivered a compliment, it was from the heart. "Thank you Ranma. I'm glad you liked it. I remember one of the Amazon scrolls talked about shifting Ki into a form that the trees couldn't absorb."

Ranma was already generating his own small Ki ball using Kasumi's new idea. He shot it at one of the far walls of their practice area only to watch it ricochet around like some kind of deranged super-ball, until finally he whipped out his hand to re-absorb the still careening shot. The walls of their practice room were actually the roots of one of the Ki-absorbing tree seedlings he had received from Cologne. Ranma had come up with the idea of training the trees to grow around a practice hall, thus making walls impervious to normal Ki attacks. This had the added bonus of regularly "feeding" the young trees, which accelerated their growth.

He grinned at her and said "That was a great idea Kasumi! I never even considered trying to shift the Ki that way. I wonder what else we could do with that?"

She walked over and hugged her husband. "Oh, I'm sure you'll come up with a thing or two…"

Just then Ranma's stomach growled. "Sorry…" Ranma quickly said.

"No, no, it is time for a quick snack." They picked up their towels and walked toward the exit. It was a clear sunny day as they exited their living dojo and proceeded along the gravel path to their house. The kids were at school, and the students wouldn't be showing up for at least two hours. She smiled with pride as they passed through some maples and their house came into view. Ranma had actually done much of the construction himself. It was a sprawling one story house with several wings from the main structure. The house was a combination of wood and stone that looked quite natural against the hill that it was located on. Kasumi was proud of how much Ranma had added to the home that was first theirs during the period they spent in "Yesterday". The house was originally much smaller, but as the children were born, Ranma had started adding to the main structure. He had already learned some basics during their imprisonment, but he started hiring experts in different fields to start the work, and then he quickly picked up the techniques and finished it himself. It still amazed her at how much he could absorb, people still thought he was a savant in Martial Arts, but Kasumi knew better. Ranma could absorb almost any physical activity and make it his own. He still didn't like the more academic studies, but when it came to anything with his hands, he was a true genius.

They walked into the kitchen where Kasumi started to lay out some significant snacks that she had prepared earlier that morning. She still didn't have Ranma's appetite, but the training they now shared had her eating almost as much as Ranma.

Soon the table was piled high with wonderful tidbits, and the two hungry Martial Artists quickly dug in.

Later that evening as they sat on a hill watching the Sunset, Kasumi finally brought up the subject that had been bothering them both over the last few months. "Any more of those dreams?" she asked him.

Ranma stared at the reddish glow on the horizon. He didn't answer at first, but then in a soft voice said "Yeah, had one last night"

"I thought so, I woke up when you were started twitching. Was it the same dream again?"

"Uh-huh. The same one. Whatever it means, I think it's getting closer. The dream seems to be coming more often, and more detailed."

She leaned her head on Ranma's shoulder. In a soft voice she said "Is it still about the ice? Or has it changed any"

He continued looking at the fading sunset and said. "Nope, it hasn't changed any. Same basic story, some type of huge explosion, I think it is in Russia. At first I thought it was one of those big bombs…"

"An atomic bomb?"

"Yeah, but it isn't. I've been getting glimpses of something big crashing into the ground. Real big. And when it hits it sends so much dust into the air everything gets really dark. Then after a few days it starts getting colder, and soon it's snowing, but it's summer time. I know a lot of people get hurt at first, not only from the impact, but from a lot of earthquakes and stuff, but it's the cold that is the worst. At first people just try to keep warm, but it starts killing off the crops, and then the hunger starts, and there is some food stored, but it stays so cold, for so long…."

She knew the rest. Only a relative few people survive. Ranma told her that some type of magical girls (probably the Sailor Scouts) help the few survivors stay alive, and eventually rebuild and create a fairly nice city, but so many people die…. She once asked Ranma if he should talk to the Sailor Scouts, but he said he felt somehow that they didn't cause it, so it seemed kind of pointless.

"Do you still think you can do something about it?" she asked.

"Dunno. Don't even know what it is that really causes it. But I've got a feeling that I could…that I should do something. I can't ever tell whether we make it or not, but either way, a Martial Artists Duty…" he trailed off, and she knew that he had that resigned grin on his face that she had seen so many times before.

The sky was darkening now. He wrapped his arms around her to keep the chill away.

"Ranma, whatever you decide, I trust in you. And if there is one thing you've shown me time and time again. Ranma Saotome…"

"…doesn't lose." He finished.


	2. Chapter 2

_Authors Note: All I can say is Wow! And thank you very much for all the great reviews. I'm trying not to rush things as much, and I'll also shoot for chapters about this length from now on. Don't count on any pattern to the updates, but the one thing I can promise is that I'll finish this story, just like OTP. (I hate unfinished stories...they just seem so...unfinished!)._

_-**-  
_

**Chapter 2**

Dai and Riku were heading home from school, but decided to go the long way since it passed by their favorite ice cream parlor. Neither would admit it, but they both shared their fathers obsession for the frozen treat.

They walked in to the store and sat down at a free table. Within a few moments, one of the new waitresses came over to take their order.

"Hi, may I take your order" the girl asked, smiling brightly at each of the boys.

"You're new here, aren't you?" said Dai.

"Yes, I am. The owner wanted new help, and for some reason he specifically wanted to hire girls instead of boys."

The two Saotomes looked at each other with a huge grin on their face. The waitress saw the look and couldn't help but ask. "Wait, do you know why?"

Dai shook his head, but Riku decided to let the girl in on what was going on. "That would be because of our sister…"

"And our…Aunt…" Dai tacked on.

The girls grin dropped, and a look of confusion appeared on her face. "Your sister and Aunt?"

"Yeah. Let's just say they get far more than they pay for when they come in. For some reason, they treat getting freebies as a game, and they are both very good at it." Good enough for the poor owner to try to hire female help to try to counteract the effects of the female Saotome charm.

"Oooh…"

"Yeah, sis came with us three days ago and managed to get two free banana splits with her sundae." Both Dai and Riku had talked about their sister's and _Aunt's_ behavior when it came to scamming food. It was strictly a game with the two of them since the family had no shortage of funds. It actually embarrassed the two boys watching their sister and their Dad seeing how much they could get from the help at the restaurant. Dad had started showing Ranko how to flirt with the help when she was in her early teens, and had no reservations about taking advantage of the affects of his female form on the waiters. What neither Dai or Riku knew, was that Kasumi had arranged with Nabiki to be partners in several of the Saotome favorite snack shops in the area, so that the businesses could be compensated for the losses incurred by the owners when the Saotomes dined.

"Okay, then, so what would you two like?"

"How about a Zoo?" said Dai.

The girls eyebrows went up. The Zoo was their colossal desert, with 15 scoops of ice cream in a large silver bowl. "A Zoo? Really?" This was the first time she got to take an order for one. They weren't that common, but they were fun to deliver to the table because the owner had two waiters deliver it suspended between two poles after they ran around the shop with horns blaring and much celebration.

"Yeah, one for each of us." Added Riku.

"FOR EACH OF YOU?" Now she knew they were just having fun. True, the policy was that if you ate one yourself, you got a second one free, but nobody could possibly eat one by themselves….

"Yup. One for each." Chimed Dai. They both had charming grins on their faces, so she just smiled and figured she'd get to see them get halfway through the first, and then grind to a stop.

Ten minutes later, amid sirens and much antics, the two huge bowls were placed in front of the two and the carnage began. The waitress stood by the owner and watched the two attack the mountain of ice cream. "Do you think they will finish it?" she asked her boss.

"Oh yeah, they do every time."

"Every time?!"

"Oh yes. About once every two weeks they come in and go for the double."

She looked worried now. "But don't you lose money on your deal then?"

He leaned back and grinned. "Yes and no. Sure, they get more than they pay for. But take a look at the rest of the store."

She looked around and realized that everyone was enjoying the unabashed show of ice cream gluttony. Even as she watched, more people came in the front door when they had heard that those two guys were attacking a Zoo.

"See" he continued, "even though those two get some free ice cream, it brings in the crowds, and people get caught up in the feeding frenzy. Turns out it's pretty cheap entertainment and advertising all rolled into one.

They stood there and watched the two eating machines go through the first, and then second Zoo for each boy. When they dropped their spoons in the empty bowls, the restaurant gave them a standing ovation.

-**-

"Man that was good" said Dai as they walked home from their snack.

"Yeah, we should at least be able to make it until dinner now". They both laughed and turned down a shortcut to their land. Their parents had arranged for them to go to a school actually a few districts away from their house. It was a long walk, or shorter run, or even shorter roof hop, to and from home, but it helped give them a certain amount of anonymity in school that all three enjoyed. Even with being as careful as their family was, their was still some local talk in their neighborhood about the Saotome clan, and it made its way to the local schools as well.

As they walked along the quiet street, they saw a few boys up ahead looking into an alley that ran off the side of the road they were on. They heard some loud chanting from the alley, but couldn't tell what was going on save for the unpleasant look on the faces of the boys in view. As they drew nearer to the shallow alley, they could see more boys surrounding something near the back wall.

One of the boys on the edge caught them out of the corner of his eye and turned to face them. "What do you two want?"

Neither Dai or Riku recognized any of the boys, and were frankly feeling too good from their lactose and sugar high to want to deal with some punks. "Nothin" said Riku as they continued to walk on the opposite side of the street from where the alley entrance was.

"Good call" the boy smirked and turned to watch whatever the other boys were so interested in.

Just as they were passing the entrance, both Riku and Dai heard a small "Please no…" from behind the ring of boys. They both stopped walking and looked at each other, Dai rolled his eyes and said "Why do people have to be such jerks. I'm gonna get the burps from all this ice cream if I have to deal with these idiots."

"Come on" said Riku "a martial artists duty..."

"Yeah, yeah, I know, let's make this quick". They then walked to the back of the group.

Dai came up to the boy that had noticed them earlier and tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey, what's going on?"

The older boy swiveled and tried to stare down the two younger boys. "Hey you two, didn't I tell you to keep going?"

Dai cracked his knuckles. "Yeah, but we don't take advice very well, do we Riku?"

As the other boys heard the exchange, they turned as one and when doing so, parted enough so that the two Saotomes could see a young girl on the ground. She didn't look hurt…yet…but she looked scared and worn down.

In a flat voice, Riku said "Let her go."

One of the boys at the center of the ring laughed. "What? Are you going to make us? Take off before you spoil our fun and make us mad…"

The two brothers stood their ground and just stared at the group of thugs.

"Fine. Your funeral" said the apparent leader.

The nearest gang members attacked first, instinctively ganging up on the two smaller boys with two from the gang teaming up against each boy.

The leader watched some of his troops walk toward the two nosy kids. He couldn't see their faces as his team drew toward them, but he knew they would be pissing their pants within a few moments. What he didn't expect to see was the four members fly out in four different directions and crash into the surrounding trash and boxes in the alley.

"What the…?" he said, and then he watched with disbelief as the two little snots proceeded to flow through his troops. He could barely make out their movements, but the bodies flying right and left clearly indicated where their feet and hands went. Within moments the two younger boys stood alone in front of the leader.

"So, who's funeral?" asked Dai? Who then watched in satisfaction as a wet stain appeared on the gang leaders pants.

"Hey...guys...really....you can have her. Just let me go!"

Riku and Dai looked at each other and then back at the last main standing. As one they both said. "I don't think so"

-**-

Nabiki Tendo was enjoying the ride to her family's house. "Family" she murmured in amazement to herself. _I wonder when I started thinking of them as family instead of just Ranma and Kasumi? I suppose when I finally realized they really trusted me with 22 Nice Corporation._

Nabiki was still single, but not alone. It was getting close to twenty years ago when Ranma and Kasumi had returned to her father's home from their admittedly strange trip. Seeing Ranma and her sister together, and married of all things, was strange enough, but what really stopped her dead in her tracks was when they brought her into Kasumi's room and her sister had fished out a small fortune in jewels from her sleeve. She and Ranma had told her that one of the the jewels was hers to keep, one was for taking care of the dojo, and one was for Akane's schooling. That in itself was an offer beyond what she could have ever imagined. The one jewel she chose was worth a small fortune itself, but to top it off, they offered her 10% of anything she could make investing the rest of the jewels Kasumi had. Their only requirement was that whatever Nabiki invested in, that it would somehow help others.

Nabiki smiled to herself. At first she had scoffed at their naive attitude. You didn't get ahead in life by worrying about others. But she had talked to her sister and brother-in-law in the later weeks, and they had made a point that this was a challenge to her. They said they knew that she could do well in business now that she had some seed money, but just how well could she do if she tried to help others.

It took a while for Nabiki to change her mindset. Some of the investments were initially easy, like investing in Ukyo's restaurant, and eventually the chain of restaurants. As Kasumi had pointed out, she was primarily helping out Ukyo, and if she made some money from it, then great.

Other investments proved a little more tricky, and not all of them worked out. But to Nabiki's surprise, even the ones that didn't pay off started to make her still feel good, because she started to enjoy the challenge of helping people.

As 22 Nice Corporation grew, Nabiki realized that she would need to work on staying low key lest too much attention be focused on the up and coming business. Once 22 Nice (or just "22" as most people called it) started to get bigger, she was besieged by a slew of investors trying to get money from her. She learned that by using front corporations to hide 22's size, she had more freedom to invest in new projects without drawing too much attention on her or her company.

The change in Nabiki over this time was gradual, but profound. She no longer had to claw for every Yen she could, and the burning need to squeeze money out of any source she had started to fade. _I suppose it was a matter of security_ she thought to herself as she got closer to her home away from home. _Once I no longer had to worry about being poor, it was easier to think of others. Well, that and the fact that I had two saints for a sister and brother-in-law._

In a few moments the car finally came to a stop in front of the main building at the Saotome compound. Nabiki leaned forward and told her driver "I'm set for the weekend. After you bring the bags in, go on home and get some rest, Just be here at three on Sunday".

The driver broke into a big smile. _The weekend off, what a deal! _"Thanks Miss Tendo! I'll be back on Sunday then!" He quickly jumped out and got her bags from the trunk and carried them up to the front door, following Nabiki.

This was the first time the driver had dropped Miss Tendo off at this location, and as they approached the door, it opened showing a beautiful young woman, perhaps in her early twenties.

"Onee-chan!" Nabiki cried as she walked to the young girl.

_Onee-chan?_ He thought to himself. _Must be an inside joke. I know Miss Tendo is in her thirties, there is no way she is her big sister...._

"Hello Nabiki. I'm glad you could come for the weekend" Kasumi stepped forward and hugged her sister.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world" she replied as the two of them walked through the door.

"Who is your new driver?"

"Oh" Nabiki glanced back at the man carrying in her things. "This is Naoki. He just started last month".

Naoki looked around at the modest home as he stepped inside. He expected Nabiki's sister to have some huge ostentatious house, but this was small, cozy and had an aura of warmth eveywhere he looked. It was modestly decorated, but every item on display was wonderful to look at. Naoki wasn't an art critic, but he could immediately tell that everything was top notch.

"Hello Naoki-san. It is a pleasure to meet you" the eldest sister said. Naoki had the most unique feeling meeting this woman. He had never sensed such a feeling of peace and tranquility emanating from an individual before. The young woman before him had long soft brown hair with matching eyes.

Naoki bowed "Likewise Mrs. Saotome"

"Here, let me take those from you" She said as she reached for the two heavy bags that Naoki held. He started to protest "But Mrs. Saotome, they're far to heavy..." When she took them from him as though they weighed nothing.

Naoki watched with open mouth as the young woman carried the two bags as if they were filled with air. Nabiki saw his reaction and smiled "Stronger than she looks, isn't she?"

Naoki nodded dumbly.

"Get going Naoki, I'm fine here, just be back by three on Sunday"

"Thanks Miss Tendo!" he said as he headed out the door. He couldn't figure out how that young woman could lift those bags, but it wasn't worth losing any of his weekend time, so off he went.

Nabiki followed Kasumi to one of the additions to the home where her guest bedroom was located. The original house was fine for a small family, but Ranma had learned that for as nice as the house was for he and Kasumi, it was a tad small for three growing children and the occasional guest, so he added on two wings at the back of the house. As she walked down the hall, Nabiki shook her head with repeated wonder that Ranma had done this work himself. It wasn't anything too elaborate, but it was clean, simple, and had that certain warmth that the whole house exuded.

Kasumi put the bags inside the door of her bedroom. "Here you go Nabiki."

"Thanks Oneesan." Nabiki walked over to the bed a flopped down on her back. She looked up at the ceiling and said. "So what's up. You said you wanted to talk? Anything wrong?"

Kasumi joined her older, younger sister on the bed. It was becoming a little more disconcerting seeing Nabiki as the years continued to age her sister normally, while she really hadn't changed much at all. Oh, Nabiki still looked good, after all she worked hard at it, but it was still strange to see your younger sister starting to look more like a parent than a sibling.

"No, nothing wrong....yet...but Ranma and I may need some help, or at least some advice"

_-**-_

"Elder! I have important news from the Jusenkyo guide!"

Cologne looked up from her gardening at the out of breath sentry who had just run up to her house. Few outside the village would have suspected Cologne's love of flowers, but the incredible display of color was a testimony to her botanical skills. "What is it child?"

The young woman stopped to get her breath, and then continued. "The guide said he saw two people at the springs this morning. He could not say which spring they were visiting, but they had a flask with them. When they heard him coming, they ran away."

Cologne's blood ran cold. _Please, please don't let it be her. _ "Did he describe what they looked like?"

The girls eyes looked down. She knew the Matriarch wouldn't want to hear this next part. "Yes, Elder, two people, a man and a woman. The main was in white robes with long black hair and glasses. The woman appeared to be an Amazon by her dress, and had...purple hair."

Cologne closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Shampoo's hair was her trademark within the village. _Oh Great-granddaughter, why? Why are you doing this. _Eventually she opened her eyes at looked at the young warrior before her. "Notify the rest of the council. How many days until the Saotomes are scheduled to visit us?"

"I believe they are going to be here for the festival in 10 days."

"Very well, it doesn't make sense to send them a message at this point, but I want a standard escort guard team to meet them when the arrive in Japan. I'll talk to them more when they get here."

"Yes Elder!" The girl spun and ran off in the direction of the rest of the council.

Cologne turned back around to her bright red flowers, and stared at their petals for a while. Waves of sadness and remorse passed over her as she considered what events Shampoo had just set in motion. Years ago, when Ranma and Kasumi had returned from their "inescapable" banishment, Ranma had deprived Mouse of his strength and hidden weapons technique and had told the village that if any of them threatened his family, he would switch from being an ally of the village to its enemy. In the years that passed, that allegiance had held both the Musk and Phoenix people at bay, as neither wanted to risk taking on the Amazons and Ranma at the same time. Everyone in the village was happy with the arrangement except one person, her own Shampoo.

The threat that Ranma had made had kept Shampoo in line for many years. The council had formally declared that Ranma's allegiance to the tribe fulfilled Shampoo's requirement to bring him back with her. This allowed her to continue to participate as a full warrior within their society without being penalized for her failure to return with Ranma as her husband.

The problem was, Shampoo just couldn't let it go. Cologne could see as it ate at her heir. Shampoo was used to getting what she wanted...always, and this was no exception. Unfortunately, about five years ago, the frustration evolved into anger. Shampoo now decided that Ranma had ruined her chance at happiness and that somehow it was his fault that she never took a husband of her own.

_Humph! Probably because she has continued to socialize with Mousse. _Cologne never did like the boy, as obsessed as her great-granddaughter was, he was even more so. Particularly after Ranma deprived him off his hidden weapons techniques.

She thought back on the time when Ranma sealed Mousse's hidden weapons abilities and strength. Mousse had just threatened that he would never give up on attacking Ranma. In the past, Ranma had always tolerated these threats, but when he and Kasumi had re-appeared in their village, things had changed. Cologne could see immediately how protective he was of his wife and knew that Mousse had made a serious mistake. Ranma had made the decision right then that he could no longer ignore these threats, and tried to administer as fair of justice that he could.

It wasn't a bad effort either. Cologne often considered that she herself couldn't have come up with anything as effective without being overly punitive. The problem was it just wasn't going to sit well with her great granddaughter, and that fool Mousse was using Shampoo's dissatisfaction to remain close to her.

Cologne climbed back on her staff on went in to the house. _This is not going to be pleasant, however it works out..._

-**-

The two boys looked down at the crumpled form below them. A low moan escaped the leader of the gang. He was battered, bruised and had several non-threatening broken bones, but he would recover, after a long and painful rehab.

"Well, that was therapeutic!" gloated the youngest.

"Yeah, it did feel good, not much of a challenge, but it did feel good".

They looked over at the young girl who was still cowering in the corner. It took them both a few moments to realize that the girl was no longer afraid of the gang, but now seemed to be shrinking from them.

"Hey, it's okay. We're here to help. Honest!" said the older of the two.

Hotaru looked doubtful. She'd had too many people treat harshly over too many years to trust these strangers. She looked at the two young boys, both about her age. The oldest had dark hair with a pig-tail and blue-gray eyes, while the younger of the two had short hair with deep brown eyes. Both were wearing black pants, with the pig-tailed boy in a red shirt and the short haired boy in blue. She decided to wait and see what they would do next.

The two boys just stood there, not pressing the recovering girl. Finally after beginning to wonder if the girl was in some kind of shock, the oldest spoke again. "Look, we can go, but you're probably in no shape to be left on your own. You look pretty upset. We can take you to our house and then you can call your parents."

Hotaru had been continuing to study them the whole time. She had a good feeling about the two, they both somehow radiated a sense of both confidence and peace. She slowly stood up, still keeping her eyes on the two, and only then glanced again at the bent forms of her former attackers.

"Thank you" was all she could get out at first.

Both of their serious expressions immediately shifted to more relaxed ones at her simple words. "No problem", spoke the younger. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yes, I am, thank you."

"My name is Daitaro, and this is my brother Riku" the red shirted boy said.

"Mine is Hotaru."

"What happened? Why did they try to hurt you" asked Riku.

Hotaru looked down at the ground. She hated the endless cycle of explanations, either followed by too many questions, pity or unease by those interested. "They just don't like me."

Daitaro looked down at the boys on the ground around him. "That's okay, I don't think they like us much either."

She couldn't help but grin at his joke. "No, I don't suppose they do. Is it really okay to call my parents from your house? Is it far from here?"

Daitaro smiled. "Yeah, it's okay. It's a little bit of a walk though, is your house close by?"

Hotaru took a few steps towards the boys on shaky legs. These encounters with the locals who seemed to enjoy taunting her so always took more out of her than she would have liked. "No, it's actually quite a bit of a walk. Maybe I should just sit down instead..." she walked over to the wall of the dirty alley. _I'm not going to bother them, I'll just sit sit down here for a while._

Both Daitaro and Riku sped over to her sides and grabbed her arms, turning her towards the entry of the alley. Riku said "Hotaru, I think you should come with us. If you can't walk, we can carry you."

_Carry me?_ She was amazed. Nobody had ever cared for her enough to carry her, not even Michiru and Haruka ever really worried that much about her. Oh they loved here and watched out for her, but it was different than really having somebody care for you.

As she was still lost in thought. Daitaro turned her towards her and said, "I can carry you. Can you hold on to my back? You'll need to hold on tight."

_Piggy-back?_ She thought to herself. "Sure" she said. Daitaro turned around and knelt down as she climbed on.

"All set?" he asked her.

"Yes, I think so."

"Then hold on".

Hotaru felt him bend at the knees, and then held on with all of her strength as he and his brother shot two stories straight up to land on the roof of the building they stood next two. Well, land really wasn't the word, because as soon as they made contact, they leaped to a nearby roof and proceeded to bounce from building to building as they made their way across town. Hotaru felt a mixture of fear and exhilaration as she seemed to fly through the air with the two brothers. It was only a matter of a minute or two before they were at the edge of town at the foothills of the low mountains to the west of the town. When they ran out of roofs they chose a seemingly well used path (going by the wear marks) on branches of trees for the last few bounds. Seemingly as quickly as it started, they stood before a small compound on the side of the hills.

She climbed down off the back of Daitaro and stretched her legs.

"Come on in. Mom's great at fixing things up, she'll have you feeling better in no time" said the younger brother as they walked to the front door of the building in the front.

"How...how did you do that" asked Hotaru as she walked between the two.

"The roof hopping? Oh, our dad taught us that when we were kids. Makes getting around a lot easier, don't you think. You just have to be careful in the mornings if there is any dew on the roofs, makes it a bit more challenging then." Daitaro explained.

It suddenly hit her that she had heard stories of people roof hopping in the nearby area from kids at school. She had thought they were just trying to tease her once again. Granted, her experience with the Sailors had shown her that some amazing things were possible, but she never expected normal people to....

"Wait!" she squeaked.

The two turned around with concerned looks on their faces. "What?" the both chimed.

"You don't know someone named Beryl do you?" She had to ask. What if they weren't normal people?

The brothers looked at each other and shrugged. Riku spoke up. "Nope. Know a lot of people named after personal hygiene products, one guy named after pantyhose, and several named after or dress as the opposite gender, but no gemstones yet."

_Not exactly the answer I was looking for, but okay... _"Sorry, just had some bad experience with people who knew of her."

They turned and proceeded into the house, with the somewhat relieved young Saturn following.

-**-

Kasumi and Nabiki were sitting at the table when they heard the door open. Ranko had come home earlier, so they were not surprised when Dai and Riku walked in. They were slightly surprised when a young girl neither had seen before followed them in.

_Ah, another stray Ranma's family has taken in_ mulled Nabiki as she looked over the girl. Black shoulder length hair with impressive bangs, black dress with blue highlights. Large dark eyes, kind of sad, and the whole look was almost goth if she had the right make up and some modifications to the outfit.

Kasumi on the other hand was instantly alert. Ranma had taught her to read people's auras, and this girl radiated a strange power. It seemed dormant, and the girl didn't seem tainted in any way, but the bottom line is that anyone with that type of power who walked into your home definitely got your full attention.

"Hi mom, hi Auntie Nabiki" shot Daitaro as he walked over to the table.

"So Dai, who's your new friend?" asked Nabiki in her usual deadpan voice.

"Oh, this is Hotaru"

"Hotaru....?" prompted Nabiki

Daitaro gave his patented Saotome grin and then turned to the girl behind him. "I forgot to ask what your full name was"

"Tomoe, Hotaru Tomoe." said the girl in a near whisper.

"Yeah, Hotaru Tomoe. Hey mom, can you give her a look over. We found some guys giving her a hard time on the way home. She seemed pretty shaken up so we told her she could come here for a bit and then call home"

"Certainly Dai. Miss Tomoe, if you don't mind, come next door to the office and I'll check you over. Nabiki, we'll be right back" said Kasumi.

"No problem sis."

Both her boys now had big smiles on their faces, with Riku adding the "Thanks mom!" as all but Nabiki walked out the front door.

As they followed Kasumi on the path to the Doctor's office both she and Ranma used. Hotaru whispered to Daitaro "Is she really your mom? She looks so young".

Daitaro just snorted and explained "Yeah, we hear that all the time. Especially my older sister Ranko. Both my mom and dad age really well, believe it or not, she's my Aunt Nabiki's older sister."

"What? No way!" Hotaru pictured the woman they left behind in the other house. She didn't look old, but she at least looked like she was in her mid thirties. The woman walking in front of them looked like she could just have got out of college.

"Yup" agreed Riku. "Looks pretty good for being almost forty, don't ya think?"

Hotaru eyes widened and her jaw dropped. _Forty? Wow, she could give Setsuna a run for her money, granted, Setsuna was lot older, but still..._

-**-

Ranma Saotome was having a great afternoon. Actually, he was having a great day, or better yet, he was continuing to enjoy a great day after day. What made this part of the day so good was that he was training with his daughter Ranko.

They were currently in the mountains behind their home, finishing training on the Bakusai Tenketsu. He was proud of how well Ranko had done in the training. Now some people might wonder if Ranma had taken the rather twisted training path of his father with regards to his children's training. If they had been watching the two the last few weeks, they would have been sure of it, seeing Ranma swing massive boulders at his young daughter.

The truth was that Ranma had long ago dropped most of his fathers methods. His experience with training his Kasumi provided all the impetus he needed to come up with new methods. No, the Bakusai Tenketsu was from the Amazons, and as bizarre as they may seemed at first glance, they were honed over thousands of years to maximize the benefit while minimizing the harm to the trainee.

They stood before a field of broken boulders at the foot of a large cliff. "Use your senses. Think of the rock as a special house of cards, all you need is to disturb the correct one and it all falls down. Look at it, concentrate...."

Ranko pointed her fingers and announced " Bakusai Tenketsu" and touched the rock, which proceeded to shatter to hundreds of pieces, striking both of them.

"All right!" she cried. "Finally!"

"Not bad, not bad at all. I think you learned it even faster than Ryoga did".

She started running from small boulder to small boulder, pulverizing each one.

Eventually, Ranma thought he should point something out to his daughter. His years with Kasumi and definitely made him more comfortable with the human body, so he didn't stammer like he might of when he was younger, instead he merely said. "Uh Ranko?"

"Yeah Dad?"

"You might want to stop while you have some clothes left..."

She was so caught up with the joy of learning the technique, she failed to notice the effect it was having on her outfit. The training may have toughened her up, but her clothes.... "Ooops. Yeah, better not give too many free shows, huh."

"Yeah, might as well not shock them too much, huh? I think its..." he stopped in mid sentence, a look concern on his face.

"Pop, something wrong?"

"Maybe, maybe not. Something is up at home. Mom isn't too worried, but I can tell something out of the ordinary has her on alert. Let's get going, if we move fast, nobody will be even able to get a good look."

"Sounds good to me, let's go!"

Ranma turned around and began to hop from tree to tree in a beeline toward home. The bond he and Kasumi shared started during their time in the world of Yesterday. Since then, it had only gotten stronger. Cologne had explained that it was not uncommon in the village that married couples would build up this kind of link as their years together continued. It wasn't common, and it seemed to be a function of how much they loved each other combined with their Ki abilities. He could feel his wife's concern, but he could tell she wasn't threatened.

Soon they could see the house. Ranma and Ranko could both feel Kasumi's presence in the medical building and quickly ran to the front door. He opened the door to see his wife examining a young girl, somewhere around Riku and Dai's age. Dai and Riku were next to the window.

Kasumi didn't look up. She had known Ranma would show up the moment she became aware of the girls unique aura.

Dai finally broke the silence. "Hi pop!"

"Hello Dai, so...whose your new friend?"

"Oh, this is Hotaru. We met her on the way home today. She had a little trouble with the local punks, so we asked Mom to take a look at her."

Kasumi stood up, walked around Hotaru, and commenced to press several pressure points, and as Ranma and his children could notice, also applied some small, medical based ki pulses as well.

When she finished, she walked back around and faced the girl. "All finished Hotaru. I didn't notice any signs of damage from today, but I did notice some old problems that I took care of. How do you feel?"

Hotaru was amazed. For the first time that she could remember, she actually felt good. No, she actually felt great. She looked up at this wonderful woman who finally took away the fatigue that had plagued her forever. "I fell wonderful! Thank you Mrs. Saotome!"

Kasumi could see the color returning to the girls face, and her primary aura was shifting back to normal. Most of the girls internal problems were chi-flow based, and her treatment unblocked some critical paths that looked like they had been blocked for a long time. What was more interesting was that in additional to her primary aura, she had some type of secondary aura superimposed on her primary. The secondary aura was fleeting, and difficult to detect, almost like a shadow image of a regular one. In spite of this, Kasumi could tell that whatever this aura was, it was very powerful. She assumed it was this shadow aura that had set of her danger senses when the girl first walked in ealier.

"You are very welcome." Kasumi replied. She turned to her husband and daughter. "Back from training early?"

"Uh...yeah...early. We finished up early, right Ranko?" he stammered.

"Yeah. Hey Mom! I finally got the breaking point technique down!" she beamed.

"That's wonderful dear"

When Dai and Riku's father and sister came in, Hotaru couldn't see them as she was facing Kasumi. When she could finally turn around and see the newcomers, she saw a tall, dark-haired pigtailed man that clearly resembled his two sons and a red haired girl of about 17 or 18 standing next to him. Her eyes widened as she realized that the girl was wearing just shreds of clothing. Even her easily viewed underwear was ripped in several compromising locations. She was a bit unnerved when nobody else seemed to react to her state of dress.

"Um...excuse me" she finally managed to say after the girl had said she learned some breaking technique. "What happened to your clothes?"

Ranko glanced down and just shrugged. "Technique's kind of hard on the old outfit."

"Uh, don't you want a coat or...something?"

"Nah, I'm heading inside to take a soak. I'll change then."

Now Hotaru wasn't that uncomfortable about excess female flesh, after all, she lived with Michiru and Haruka and she'd seen more than most kids her age. But she was somewhat unnerved at the lack of reaction from everybody else. _Heck, even though they were her brothers, they were still boys for goodness sakes!_

"Ranko dear, go on ahead. Aunt Nabiki is finally here, so don't forget to say hello to her."

"Gotcha! Thanks again Pop." She walked to the door and quickly left.

During this exchange, Kasumi couldn't help but notice the keen attention Ranma was paying to Dai and Riku's new friend. Granted, she had a strange secondary aura, but that still didn't explain why he was paying so much attention to her.

"Dai" Kasumi asked "Do you and Riku want to walk Hotaru home?"

"Sure!" he said. "C'mon Riku. Hey Hotaru, are you okay to walk home now?"

"Yes I believe I am. Thank you."

Hotaru followed the two boys out of the room. When she was gone, Kasumi looked at Ranma "Did you notice her second aura?"

"Yeah."

"I noticed how closely you were watching her. Is there something else?"

"Yeah, I think I've seen her before."

"Where" Kasumi prodded.

"You said Nabiki was here. I'd like to talk to her about it too. Remember how I wanted to talk to her about the dreams I've been having? Well...I'm pretty sure that girl was one of the girls in the dream."

-**-

A short time later, Nabiki, Kasumi and Ranma were seated in the main room of the house.

"So Saotome, what's up?" Nabiki was always focused and to the point.

Ranma squirmed in his seat. "Nabiki, I know this is going to sound bonkers. Even for me."

Nabiki raised an eyebrow. "Go on."

"I've been having a recurring dream for some time now. It's always the same, but it seems to be getting stronger, more clear in the last few months." He paused, trying to put his thoughts together into as believable chain as possible. He and Kasumi had talked about this a lot lately, but it was entirely different talking to somebody else about it. _Heck, I know Kasumi trusts me, but Nabiki...._he thought to himself.

Nabiki just looked at him waiting, until Kasumi prodded him "Go on Ranma".

"Okay. See Nabiki, my dream always is the same. It turns out that there is this huge natural disaster that affects the whole world."

"What disaster? What happens?" she asked.

"Unfortunately, I'm not sure. I think something explodes, or crashes, that puts so much junk in the sky that it causes things to start getting colder."

"Like with the dinosaurs?"

"Yeah! I think so" he said.

Nabiki was trying to be patient. She knew that if she pressed too hard, Ranma would clam up. "So it would be some type of large meteor?"

"Yeah. Anyways, once things start getting colder, a lot of people start dying. Some from the crash, some from the cold, and some from lack of food. A lot of people die Nabiki." He looked her in the eyes. "Almost everyone" he added.

"I assume there is more?..."

"Uh huh. The survivors are herded up by this group of girls. I _think_ it may be the Sailor Senshi. Sometimes their faces aren't so clear. Anyways, these girls are actually trying to help, and the protect the few people that survive and help them start over." He stopped, looked at Kasumi, and then back to Nabiki. "That's it, except for three last things."

"And they are?"

"One, I get the feeling that the big crash doesn't necessarily have to happen. I don't know why or how, but I think that part is important. Two, I think this is more than a dream. I can feel it. I really think its more of a warning than just a dream."

Nabiki noticed he only mentioned two things. "And the third is".

"I'm almost certain that the girl that we just met was one of the Sailor Senshi."

In the old days, Nabiki would have instantly seen dollar signs in this last tidbit. That type of information would be valuable to many people. _ But now...._ "Okay, so let's accept that this is some type of...vision. First, why you? Why are you having these dreams?"

Ranma just snorted. "Why me? Heck, I don't know, why does anything happen to me. Look at all of the crap that's happened to me so far in my life. The chaos at your house, kidnappings, fighting with gods.... I've got no clue. Maybe it's a gift from our visit to that weird world. I don't know. What's important is that I think it is more than a dream.

Nabiki rolled her eyes. He had a point, there never was a good reason why all this stuff happened to Ranma, it just _did._ "So, What next?"

Kasumi finally chimed in. "Nabiki, we had talked about you trying to get some information on the Sailor Senshi before, but you said there were no good clues. What about now, with this girl."

Nabiki sat in silence for a bit. "Yes, it might give us a stating point. Let me work on it." She looked back at Ranma. "Are you sure you want to get into this? If we start to get warm, they may not like us snooping around."

Ranma reached over and took Kasumi's hand in his. "Until today, I wasn't really convinced that the dream meant anything. Originally, we were just going to talk to you about it and see what you thought. But since I've seen that girl, I'm now sure it is just more than just a dream. Nabiki, almost everybody dies. If we can do something to prevent it, we must."

-**-

The Princess of Pluto was back at the Gates, reviewing the timelines for anything out of the ordinary. As usual, nothing worth dealing with, although once again, Setsuna was subconsciously troubled at how quickly the reviews were going.

_I'm sure it's just because we're getting close to when it all begins_ she told herself. _After all, you'd expect the temporal permutations to diminish the closer you got to the event._ It only made sense.

_Maybe I'll just run through them one more time..._ she thought, and sat back down to verify this weeks findings.

About an hour later, she had finished the second pass and felt better. She hadn't missed anything. All of the probabilities of Crystal Tokyo were around 99.5 percent or better. She was sure of it, and she had used the Gates for so long, she knew they had no surprises for her. If nothing else, she could count on their flawless operation. The scientists who built the gates for Queen Serenity definitely knew their stuff. Take a lot of advanced science and technology, mix in some magic, and you got some truly awesome inventions.

_But it just seems too quick. _She kept thinking to herself. _I still can't believe that the alternate timelines are disappearing this soon. Impact won't be for quite a few months still._

In the end, she once again relied on the tool that had served her flawlessly for so long.


	3. Chapter 3

Ta-dah! I finally got Chapter 3 ready to go! Hopefully I've made up for my delay between postings with the longer chapter. I'd like to thank you for the great reviews, and I hope I can continue to entertain at the same level.

-**-

**Chapter 3**

"Ami, I think I need your help."

The Princess of Pluto had appeared to Ami just moments before. After surprising Ami while she was doing homework, Setsuna went right to the point. In all truth, it was all Ami could do to perform a world class face fault right then and there.

"My help? Why, is there a Youma attack? I didn't get any alerts...." She whipped out the Mercury computer, immediately doing a quick scan of the surrounding area.

"No, No. Nothing like that. This is different." Setsuna stopped and seemed unwilling to go on.

Ami shifted in her seat. She was always uncomfortable with Setsuna. Pluto was always giving them cryptic advice or hints, but she _never_ asked for help. "Well, what could I help you with?"

"I'm worried that there is something wrong with the Time Gates." Blunt and to the point, well at least that part of Setsuna was holding true.

"Why would I be able to help you? The Gates are yours, I've never been allowed access, and I have no idea how they work."

Setsuna lowered her eyes and shook her head. "I know, I know. Look, I'm not even sure there _is_ something wrong. I mean, nothing seems wrong, and yet...." She trailed off, her gaze shifting off into the distance.

Ami still didn't understand why Setsuna had sought her out. "But why me?"

"Because you at least know how computers work." she blurted.

Now she had Ami's interest. "Really? I didn't know that the Time Gates is a computer?"

"Well, it's more than a computer. The designers put a lot more than just computer circuitry into their design. But it still shares a computer heritage, and I don't know who else to talk with about this." she confessed.

Ami closed up the Mercury computer. "I don't know if I'll be able to help, but I'll do anything I can. When would you like me to come?"

Some of the worry left Setsuna's face. "Now if you could?"

"Sure! Let's go". Amy wasn't going to pass up this opportunity. _Wow, I finally get to see the Time Gates_ she thought as they both disappeared in a violet flash.

A stomach-turning instant later (teleporting never did agree with her), Ami's vision cleared and she had her first look at the Time Gates. To her left was a large elliptical...ring. Well not a ring exactly. It had a front, outside, inside and back edges, so she figured it had a rectangular cross section. It was steel gray in color, with a flat metallic finish. Nothing was in the center, and she could see the rock wall on the other side of it quite clearly. _I guess it isn't on right now_ she thought.

In front of the Time Gates was a large leather couch and an end table. To her right was a small kitchen, with two doors on either side. An arbitrary thought popped into her head. _I hope one is a bathroom!_

She saw no sign of a computer, or for that fact any electronic machinery at all. She finally turned to Setsuna and asked "Is this it? I don't see any computers?"

Setsuna chuckled and looked over to one of the two doors. "Oh no, this is just where I work. Behind that door is the guts of the Time Gates."

"Oh." Amy walked over to the couch, looking at the large elliptical device. "How does it work."

"Actually, it isn't too complicated. The interface is locked to my voice." She walked over to the couch and sat down. "Have a seat and I'll show you how it works."

Ami joined her on the couch, and felt foolish in immediately noticing how nice the couch was.

Setsuna raised her voice. "Gate. Enable display"

"DISPLAY ENABLED" announced a female voice as the ellipse filled in with a dark gray color.

"Gate. Show daily variants"

As Ami watched, text appeared in the gray background. It was a table of numerically encoded columns, Above the table had tomorrow's date. The headers identified the first column as timeline indices, the second column had a listing of probabilities. The third column seemed to have some text summarizing the significant event."

"Is this what I think it is?" Ami whispered.

"I think so. This is a listing of timelines that show the worst probabilities of Crystal Tokyo occurring. This display is keyed to tomorrow. I typically check each day for the next week, and then shift to weekly scans from there. I look for anything that seems to threaten the likelihood of Crystal Tokyo. Watch..."

"Gate. Display timeline AF29893B78C." she commanded.

Instantly the text and gray disappeared, and was displaced with a view of Usagi accidentally transforming before a news crew, revealing her secret identity.

"Oh my gosh! When did this happen" cried Ami.

Setsuna rolled her eyes. "Oh relax. Remember, this is keyed to tomorrow. I always have one or two cases where Usagi screws up and manages to blow her cover. If we watched more, we'd see that only a bizarre set of occurrences after this type of screwup actually leads to a loss of Crystal Tokyo."

"Oh. Yeah. Sorry. So what is wrong then, everything looks like it is working."

A wrinkle appeared between Setsuna's eyebrows. "Yes and no. See when I run these checks, it usually takes a long time for each list to appear. The Time Gates have to sift through a LOT of potential timelines to find these particular cases. The problem is, lately they seem to be taking a shorter and shorter time to finish. Almost...too quick, at least, that's what it feels like."

Ami stared at the gates thinking. Finally she asked "Is it because there are fewer possibilities as we get closer to Nemesis?"

"Exactly what I thought!" exclaimed Setsuna. "But...Nemesis is still quite a few months away, and it just doesn't feel right. I know, that doesn't sound very scientific, but it doesn't. It's like when you have a test and you're sure you've done a math problem correctly, but you just know something is wrong."

Ami kept looking at the gates. "Hmmm. Yes, I know what you mean. The problem is, those little voices at the back of your mind are usually pretty good at spotting things that aren't right." She paused, thinking again, and then added "Are there any diagnostic routines that can be run on the system?"

Setsuna thought for a few more moments, then finally confessed. "I really don't know. I've used the Gates for so long, and I've never had to do anything out of the ordinary with them".

Now it was Ami's turn to get confused. "But, they're your Gates, right? I mean, you built them?"

Setsuna once again squirmed under Ami's gaze. "Well....yes, they are my Gates...but no I didn't build them. The finest scientists and engineers that the Silver Millennium had worked on the Gates. They were brilliant actually. It was they who made this viewing portal so that I could scan the timelines like I wanted."

"Oh." was all Ami could say to respond to this little bit of news. She had always thought Setsuna was the creator of the Gates. _Go figure... _ "Wait, you say they built this portal for you, that means they used something else?"

Setsuna concentrated for a bit. "You know, I think I remember some keyboard and screen in the back room. I think I saw them work at that. You want to take a look?"

"Sure, maybe that was their admin console to the Gates."

Setsuna led Ami over to one of the two closed doors and then managed to pull the creaking door open. Ami tried to peer inside, but it was pitch black.

"Hold on, the light switch is right....here" as the lights snapped on in an enormous chamber. Ami knew how much computing power was in the Mercury computer, so this place represented a mind-boggling capability. She followed Setsuna down a small flight of stairs, past rows of some type of equipment, and finally stopped at a table with a keyboard and screen.

"I think this is it. Do you think this will really help?"

Ami looked down at the dusty keyboard. "I don't know for sure, but it's worth a try." She sat down and touched the keyboard.

[LOGIN:] was the only thing on the screen. "Setsuna. Do you know what the login, and probably a password were."

"Haven't a clue. I never used this. Just saw the techies working at it."

Ami tried a few variations on the word Pluto for a login with no results. "I wonder...they wouldn't...would they?" she half mumbled to herself.

"Would they what?" She watched Ami pick up the keyboard and flip it over. "What are you looking for?"

Ami had a big grin on her face now. "Only this" She pointed at two words written on the underside of the keyboard. "Some things never change I guess." She flipped over the keyboard and entered the login and password she had found and was immediately logged in to the computer. "I'm in!"

"Okay, but now what, will this take long?"

"I have no idea" The last thing Ami wanted was Setsuna breathing down her neck as she explored the Time Gates. "Tell you what, give me some time here to look around. I'll come and get you when, and if, I've found anything."

Setsuna shrugged her shoulders. "Sound good to me, I'll be back upstairs if you need me."

-**-

"Ukyo! Come in! How are you" said Kasumi as she answered the door.

"Hi Kasumi. I was stopping by the restaurant in town and thought I'd come up and talk to you for a bit."

"That's wonderful Ukyo. I'm sorry to say that Ranma is teaching a class in the dojo at present. You are more than welcome to wait here until he's done. Please sit down" Kasumi gestured to the two chairs next to the window. "So, how have things been?"

Ukyo took one of the chairs, and then Kasumi took the other. "Oh, not bad. Actually, I came here to talk to you."

"Really?" Kasumi instantly knew the only reason why Ukyo would want to talk to her.

"Yeah, I've been thinking about your offer. At first when you brought it up, I thought you were joking, or not in your right mind, but the longer I've thought about it....."

Kasumi smiled at Ukyo. "I understand. It took me a long time to even consider the idea. It definitely isn't something one thinks of every day."

Ukyo snorted with laughter. "Uh, yeah! Are you really sure about this?"

Kasumi reached over and took Ukyo's hand. "Ukyo, you of all people know how _different_ our lives are. There's nothing normal about anything we do. There are a few things though, that we feel very strongly about, and that is family and friends. Do to the way things worked out, we don't have much of a family. Ranma has no brothers and sisters, and I only really have Nabiki...."

The chef frowned at Kasumi's unsaid other sister, Akane. Akane was always a bit of a strange one, heck, Ukyo still couldn't let go of the grudge she had against her for how she always treated Ranma. As far as Ukyo was concerned, Akane basically got what she deserved. On the other hand, it was sad to see anybody, even Akane, in the situation she was currently in. All she could add was "I know".

"Now it is true we have three wonderful children". Kasumi continued, "But that's it for family, and friends are even fewer. The very nature of our unique gifts make it difficult to get close to anybody. You are the sole person that we, both Ranma and I, consider a friend.

Ukyo tried to hide the blush she felt about the heartfelt compliment. "Thank you Kasumi, that means a lot to me. I can't say I was happy about losing Ran-chan, but I can see how happy he is with you. Sugar, I realize how much you two have helped me and been there for me since, so when it comes down to it, I really can't complain too much."

"We know. But we also know that you wish you had a family too. My idea doesn't solve everything, and I'm still not sure what Ranma thinks about it, but I wanted to wait to see how you felt about it before I brought it up with him."

"Do you think he might do it? I mean, I know how serious Ranma is about this stuff...."

"I'm not sure. But I have a feeling that he would worry most about how I would feel about it. I'm not saying it would be nothing, but I think that given the circumstances it's the right thing to do."

Ukyo sat in the chair for a bit, looking at the wooden floor. This wild idea Kasumi came up with had been tearing her apart! She was so torn, and yet.... She looked up into Kasumi's eyes and said "If you mean it, then yes, I'd like to try"

-**-

"Any luck" asked Setsuna, munching on some lunch. "I brought you something to eat, you've been in here for quite a while."

"Well, believe it or not, I think I may have figured out what is going on."

Setsuna's eyes went wide. "Really?! Is everything okay? What did you find out." She really didn't like the clouded look that came over Ami's face though.

"I'm not sure. I mean, I didn't find out anything necessarily bad, but I found out some stuff that doesn't make sense"

Setsuna sat down on a ledge next to the admin console that Ami had been working at. "Drat, I figured as much. Go ahead, tell me what you can."

"Well, the good news is that for all the complexity of the Time Gates, they really are fairly simple, in that at first I thought they were some type of fantastically complex general purpose computer."

"I could have told you that..."

"...Yes, I know, but one thing about computers, assumptions will kill you. If you don't know what is happening, then you don't really know _everything_ about the Time Gates do you?"

"No." Setsuna did not look too happy at this point. Ami guessed that after all these years of being in charge, nobody would like to have their weaknesses pointed out.

"So, the Time Gates were built to track temporal possibilities. My guess is that the technicians got everything working here and then worked with you to set up your viewing portal out there." Ami looked over to the door to the first chamber she had seen.

"Correct. Go on."

"It looks like there is this massive database that tracks temporal fractals and their affects on probabilities. It's constantly updating, and when you review the timelines in the other room, it shows you the probable timelines from 0 to 100 percent for a desired outcome."

Setsuna nodded. "That sounds right so far."

Ami looked more serious. "Now here is the part I really don't understand. Your portal queries the databases for all probabilities from 0 to 100 percent, and ranks them in the order you want. Here look." She turned to the large monitor and brought up a list of numbers. "This is the list you were looking at in the other room. These are the probabilities, and these are the timeline IDs you use to view the potential outcomes."

Setsuna nodded in agreement as she skimmed the list.

Ami continued her explanation. "Okay, but this list is the result of the queries they built for you. See computers are very obedient idiots. They'll do exactly what you want them to do. Oh, the Silver Millennium computers are very smart idiots, heck some of the AI units were supposed to be very lifelike, but the point is, if you asked them a bad question, the answer they gave you could be very misleading."

Setsuna rolled her eyes. "You're beginning to lose me. What's the point?"

"The point is, your portal shows you the exact thing you asked for, the outcomes from 0 to 100 percent. The problem is this." Ami turned to the screen again and typed in a new command. "This is a summary of current outcomes being processed."

They looked at the screen, on it was the following.

[TOTAL TIMELINES TRACKED: 839,339,399,493,147,022,203.]

[TOTAL TIMELINES WHERE PROBABILITY IS 0 OR GREATER AND UP TO 100: 38,201,048,273,442,838,595]

Setsuna shook her head. "I still don't see the problem."

Ami turned back to Setsuna. "Look at the numbers, they should both be the same."

"Why?" puzzled Setsuna.

"Because they should all be between 0 and 100 percent. Come on, it either isn't going to happen, it is, or it's possible."

A slow feeling of dread started to chill Setsuna's extremities. Lunch all of a sudden wasn't setting so well on her stomach.

"Here, I'll show you the first 10 in the unsorted list, normally all you see is the sorted one. Now granted, some still look normal, but this should show you the magnitude of the problem."

She typed another command at the keyboard and the following appeared.

Timeline ID Probability

0 NULL

1 99.3234883

2 NULL

3 NULL

4 NULL

5 NULL

6 99.9999889

7 99.1029939

8 NULL

9 NULL

"What are all those NULLs" asked the now very concerned caretaker of the Time Gates

Ami sighed. "That's the part I can't figure out. When you look at a normal timeline, it gives you the parent timelines and key divergence points. When you look at one of these NULLs, you don't get anything. Somehow, for some reason, the Time Gates are unable to process these timelines. Something in them causes whatever the algorithms the scientists used to track the the threads of time to fail."

"So you mean these timelines won't occur?"

"No, I mean that you can't tell. The Time Gates just can't process them."

Setsuna walked away from the console. "This is terrible, no wonder my scans are taking less time."

Ami did not want to bring up her last finding. "Uh, Setsuna. There's one more thing."

"What, what else can go wrong?"

"I tried to check back through the logs. It looks like the NULLS started to appear somewhere between 15 and 20 years ago. There weren't many at first, but within the last few weeks they started to make up a significant number of the outcomes. Something is shifting, and it's breaking the gates."

-**-

"So squirts, why are we heading home this way again?" Asked Ranko. Her brothers had talked her into taking a long way home from school so they could say hi to some new kid they rescued a few days ago.

"We wanted to say hi to Hotaru." replied Dai. "You know, you didn't have to come along?"

Ranko smiled. It was her father's smile. The kind of smile that got under anybodies skin. "What, you wanted to see your girlfriend by yourself? I thought Riku was the one who liked to rescue strays..."

"Hey! That's not true" Riku tried shoving his sister, but she merely weaved out of the way and Riku stumbled forward.

"She's not my girlfriend!" blushed Dai. "She just seemed kinda lonely. When we walked her home, you could just tell."

"Oh you are such the romantic gentleman!" teased his older sister. "So how much further is this place?" Ranko was now walking backward on the fence talking to her two younger brothers on the same fence.

Riku and Daitaro hopped off the fence. "We're here." shot Dai as he crossed the street to a very nice looking house.

Ranko looked at the place. "Not bad. Not bad at all. Hey Dai, maybe you and grandpa can scam your way into living here?"

Riku laughed and added "yeah, maybe you can sneak him in as a panda!"

"You two are just sooooo clever" deadpanned Dai as he knocked on the door. "Try not to embarrass yourselves too much, huh?"

When the door opened, the first person Hotaru saw was a redheaded girl of around 17 or 18. Her face was cautious, until she noticed Dai and Riku. Then a smile blossomed "Dai, Riku, welcome! Is this your sister?"

"Yeah. Hope you don't mind. We tried to get her to go straight home, but she wouldn't listen."

"Oh, no problem at all! Come in! Come in!"

They walked inside and deposited their shoes. All three Saotomes surveyed the house. It was a large two story building, and from what they could see was quite nice inside.

"Wow Hotaru, this is a nice house" observed Daitaro.

"Thank you." she said as they walked toward an inner garden.

"So you live here with your parents?" asked Ranko.

"Yes, my parents and they have a friend that uses a room occasionally."

Ranko heard the sounds of sparring first. As they entered the garden, they could see two people, a man and a woman, sparring in the corner. They stood and watched the two for a good five minutes. Hotaru could hear Ranko murmuring something to her brothers occasionally, but couldn't make out what she was saying.

Eventually, the two stopped, and acknowledged Hotaru and her friends. The tall blonde haired man spoke first. "Hello Hotaru-chan. Who are these three?"

"Haruka-papa. These are the two boys that helped me the other day, and their sister. Their mother was the one who helped me feel so much better."

The woman walked towards the newcomers. "In that case, we owe you two debts of gratitude. Thank you so much for helping Hotaru with those punks, and even more so for your mother helping her with her fatigue. We've been to many, many doctors and none of them could help Hotaru-chan."

"Sure, no problem. After all, a Martial Artists duty is to protect those who can't protect themselves."

"Oh yes" said the man. "We heard that the two of you were quite the fighters."

Ranko looked at the smirk on the man. Right or wrong, she had inherited her father's quick judgment, but unlike Ranma (at least how he was now, not back then), she still hadn't learned to temper her views yet. "Hey, we're the best there is. My brothers know what they are doing."

The blonde still had that smug look on his face. "Sure thing. No offense. I'm sure they are quite competent."

Riku and Daitaro glanced at each other. They could already sense the tension building. "Hey come on Ranko, just let it be" whispered Dai.

"Yeah sis, please" added Riku. "We just wanted to say hi to Hotaru, don't...."

Too late, Ranko was on a roll. "You know, unlike you, we take our Martial Arts seriously"

The grin quickly disappeared, now replaced with a definite scowl. "What do you mean by that?!"

Now the mother spoke up. "Haruka, please, just let it be. They're just kids"

"They may be, but she knows better" Haruka said looking at Ranko. "Big deal, some Martial Artist wannabees with a big attitude. I'm sick of these kids nowadays with their attitudes. Just once I'd like to be able to put one in their place."

"Look grandpa, if you'd like to have yourself a little spar, I'm up for it." challenged Ranko.

"GRANDPA! Look you little brat, if I thought you were serious"

"Ranko, please!" begged Riku

But Ranko was on a roll now, and there was no shutting down the Saotome freight train once it was on a roll. "Oh I'm serious. I'd love a little warm up before I go home for a _real_ workout."

The blonde walked back over to the mat. "Then bring it on little girl, then bring it on"

-**-

"Thanks Ranko! Thanks a lot!"

"What?" she asked as they walked away from the house.

"What? We go over to say hello to a friend, and you beat up her Dad! They'll never want us back again!"

"Yeah sis." Riku was looking particularly glum. "It's always the same, if it's not you it's Dai, and if it's not him it's Dad."

"What? Was I just supposed to stand there and ignore him?"

"Yes! It wouldn't have hurt anything"

"He challenged me. I'm not going to back down" Ranko continued to walk toward home. "What? I'm supposed to let any jerk go bragging and insulting and then just look the other way. Pop wouldn't..."

Dai was quiet as they continued to walk. "Yeah, I know but still..."

"But still nothing. That man claimed to be a martial artist...and he was. If he wants to issue a challenge, he'd better expect somebody to take him seriously. Face it, if I hadn't, it would have insulted him. Is there shame in losing a match to somebody better than you? We do it with Dad all the time right?"

Both Dai and Riku were quiet. It was true, it was Hotaru's father who pushed the issue. Granted, Ranko made the man look ridiculous. He couldn't land a single hit, and finally after insisting Ranko 'fight him for real', she dropped him to the mat in less than 10 seconds. The three continued on for quite a while without talking. Finally it was Ranko who broke the silence. "Look, as long as you two are upset with me anyway. I might as well mention one other thing."

"What's that?" Riku was pretty upset at this point, he really didn't need his sister adding to the chaos any more than she already had. From what Mom said, she was just as bad as Dad used to be.

"Hotaru's father seemed...different...not right." She looked at the anger in her brother's faces "No! Nothing bad, just different. I just got a weird feeling, that's all. Did you guys notice anything?"

Their silence was their answer.

-**-

"So why are we here again?" Asked Minako.

The Inners and Moon Cats, minus Ami, were all assembled at Setsuna's house after Pluto had sent word that she wanted to meet with everybody. Setsuna hadn't arrived yet and people were getting edgy.

Usagi was tired. It was a long day in school and they were studying a lot of European history, Spain in particular, which bored the heck out of her. They had been covering the period under Queen Isabel and the programs she had started, her response just popped out of her mouth. "I don't know" sighed Usagi, "Setsuna just told me tell you that there was trouble at the Gates, I didn't expect the Spanish Inquisition!".

As Usagi completed her sentence, Makoto sprouted an enormous grin on her face. _I can't believe it, I finally get to say it! "_Nobody expects the Spanish inquisition! Our chief weapon is surprise...surprise and fear...fear and surprise...Our two weapons are fear and surprise and a ruthless effic..."

"Enough!" cried Setsuna who was walking in with the Outers and Ami. "I know you like those guys, but this is not the time for jokes. Are you ever going to get tired of that show?"

Makoto's face glowed red with embarrassment. _It was worth it! I don't care how serious this meeting is, I've ALWAYS wanted to do that!_ "No..." she finally answered.

Setsuna looked up at the ceiling in frustration and took a deep breath. "All right, enough silliness. We have a real problem."

The sheepish grins disappeared and the girls were all business now. "What's wrong with the Time Gates?" asked Rei.

Pluto looked from one face to another, and then let out a deep sigh as she sat down. "We're not exactly sure. Ami helped me identify the symptom, but we don't really know the cause."

Setsuna commenced to recount her and Ami's discovery at the Time Gates console. It took a while, but eventually everybody understood the problem.

"So, the bottom line is that something is corrupting the Time Gates ability to track future events, correct?" asked Makoto.

"Correct. Something, or somebody, has found a way to block the gates ability to track the multiple temporal outcomes. This could be our biggest problem yet!" groaned Setsuna.

"So" mused Makoto, "we really don't know that Crystal Tokyo is affected, only that we can no longer see the probabilities, right?"

Setsuna sat up in her chair. "Oh, I hadn't looked at it that way, but yes! Yes! All I was focusing on was the loss of Crystal Tokyo, but you're right, this may not mean anything!"

Finally, Luna spoke up. "I wouldn't get too optimistic Setsuna. It seems to me that this effect would be an excellent tool to mask an attack. Is there any way to see around the disturbance? Have you done an exhaustive search of our local area to see if there are any clues to this anomaly?"

"No! Of course not!" she snapped. Pluto was getting more and more tired of Luna. During the early days of the Senshi's awakening, she had been quite useful, but lately, she was always the naysayer, and seemed to have little faith in her abilities with the Time Gates. The Moon cats had really helped when the Senshi first got together, but now.... Fortunately, the nearness of Crystal Tokyo had convinced the Senshi to show their faith in her and not Luna. As far as she was concerned, she was just upset that nobody was asking her opinion any more. Even Artemis seemed to be growing more distant from Luna over the past few months.

"Now Luna, I'm sure Setsuna's done everything she could. You know how conscientious she is about these things." added Artemis.

Luna couldn't believe it, once more she was being ignored. "Princess?"

Usagi looked at Luna and sighed. "Luna, I'm sure Setsuna knows what she's doing. I'm sure she's checked all the possibilities."

"But..." started Luna

Usagi turned to Setsuna and continued. "So, what should we do then?"

"Well, I think the best course of action would be to see if Mars can get anything with a fire reading..."

Luna shook her head and padded out of the room, not even bothering to listen to Setsuna's plan. Oh, it probably would make sense, but their string of victories had made them too dependent on Setsuna. As far as she was concerned, they weren't even thinking straight regarding this threat. Setsuna too dependent on the Gates that now that they were acting up, she didn't really know what to do. They were just latching on to whatever they could do to make it easy. With the start of the catastrophe that would lead to Crystal Tokyo so close, they were getting just too relaxed.

She ended up on the deck behind the house, looking up at the clear night sky. She sighed and wrapped her tail around her front paws. It was unsettling to be ignored, and it was happening more and more often. Where once Usagi listened to her advice, now she seemed to be just tolerated. They had waited so long for this period in time, only to be treated as an extra unwanted item. Even Artemis wasn't really paying attention to what she was saying any longer, he too seemed to be just waiting for the final event to drop into place.

She sighed, well, as best as a cat could sigh. They had been so close for a while, and now he too was ignoring her. She stayed, there, gazing at the half moon, while the others chatted happily away inside.

-**-

"You kids be good for Aunt Ukyo" said Kasumi as she stepped into the car Nabiki had arranged for them.

"We will!" All three of the chorused.

"Yeah right, like that's going to happen" Ukyo muttered. "All right, all right, in we go"

"I still don't see why we couldn't go with them." Ranko lamented as they went through the door.

Ukyo plopped down on her favorite couch. "Oh, I don't know, probably has to do with somebody not picking a fight with you and then giving you the kiss of death or marriage...." Kasumi and Ranma had talked to her long ago about the hazards of the kids coming with them. Even though they were now allies of the village, it didn't mean that their children were protected from every village law. The whole 'If I beat you up I get to marry you' thing still applied to their children, as it did to any other Amazon in the village. The Saotome reputation virtually guaranteed that the first time one of their children stepped into the village, almost every eligible Amazon would be after them.

"I know" said Dai. "But it still stinks."

they just stood there for a bit, trying to figure out what to do, at last, Riku spoke up. "C'mon Dai, lets go to the Dojo"

Dai looked at his brother. "Yeah, I could use a workout. Hey Sis, you want to come to?"

Ranko was walking over to the couch Ukyo was on and plopped down next to her. "No thanks, Dad and I were in there for a while this morning, I'm going to sit with Aunt Ukyo for a bit.

"Suit yourself." They both turned and walked through the hallway, leaving the Ukyo and Ranko behind.

They both sat there for a while, looking out the front window of the house at the front yard and woods. Finally Ukyo broke the silence. "So Ranko, how are things going at school?"

Ranko just kept looking out the front window. "Okay."

"Just okay? Come on, last we talked there was some new guy at school you were interested in. Anything come of that?"

Ranko shifted her gaze to Ukyo. "No, not really."

"Why not?"

Again Ranko paused, but finally said "You wouldn't understand" and lowered her gaze.

Ah, but Ukyo did understand, more so than Ranko might want to admit. "What, that none of the guys at school really interest you?"

Ranko's eyes shot up at that comment. "What do you mean by that?"

_She's old enough to hear this_ thought Ukyo. _Kasumi could probably tell her, but then again, maybe not... _"Simple. None of them are as good as your Dad, are they?"

Ranko's eyes darted back and forth. "What! What the heck are you talking about?"

Ukyo sighed "Relax Sugar, I'm not saying that...well...not exactly anyway. Look Ranko, you know I knew your Dad when we were young, and then again when we were in high school." She paused, and Ranko could tell she was searching for the right words, so she made herself just wait.

"When I think of your Dad, I think of a man who is honest, brave, faithful...no...even that isn't right. When I think of most men I've known, I can think of several that are really nice guys. But none of them can compare to the _intensity_ of your father. When I think of even the best of them, I know that I'd always be able to count on your father to be more honest and true than any of them. Your dad will stick with a friend no matter what, he'd do anything to help somebody he cared for. Now some people may not realize how special that is...but I do. Heck, Ranko, why do you think I'm still single?"

Ranko shrugged "Dunno. I always wondered that actually, you seem so nice and pretty..."

"Simple. The same reason you're having a problem. I know your Dad, and the problem is...nobody that I've ever met is as good a guy as he is. Nobody. Makes it kind of tough to meet somebody when they can never stack up against this other person you know." Ukyo stopped and looked down at her lap. "Heck Ranko, when your Dad chose Kasumi, I had a choice. I could move on and look for somebody else, or I could stay on as their friend...and as much as I hate to admit it, even to myself, I'd rather be his friend...their friend...than to have to settle for the next best thing."

They sat there in silence for a while. "Is Dad really that special" Ranko whispered.

"Yeah. Yeah he is. I wouldn't tell him to his face" she snorted "his ego is big enough as it is, but he is one special guy. I'm not surprised that you find most of the guys you meet to be...disappointing."

Ranko smiled at that last statement. "Disappointing. That's a good word. It's not that they are jerks, it's just that...I guess...I'm expecting just a little bit more."

Ukyo slid over and put an arm around the younger girl. "I feel for you Hun...I really do. I know what you are going through, and the worst thing is that I really can't offer any advice. I'm a victim myself."

"Great, so effectively, you're saying I'm going to have to settle for second best."

Her only answer was silence.

-**-

"You know I love you when I let you travel like this, don't you?"

Ranma waded to the shore with a broad grin on her face. "Yeah, but it does bring back memories, and it is good training! Besides, that time we had to hold our breaths while we swam under that Chinese Frigate was an added bonus. I mean the swimming was good, but I never thought of trying to swim that far underwater before."

Kasumi stood there wringing out her ponytail, just shaking her head. "One of these days I'll have to let the kids 'travel' with us just to show them what they are 'missing'." She stopped as she noticed Ranma was staring at her. "What? What's wrong?"

"Oh. Sorry. Nothin'....nothin' wrong at all" She turned away, but not before Kasumi saw the blush appear in her cheeks.

She knew Ranma always liked to swim to China when they came to visit the Joketsuzoku, but unlike when she first swam with her father, Kasumi had at least convinced her to wear some of the new Fastskin full body suits, after the last time the clothes they wore chaffed too much during the swim. One thing about the suits though, they left little to the imagination, particularly in the cold water of the sea between Japan and China. She walked up behind her and wrapped her arms around her now shorter husband and kissed her on the head. _After all these years, she's still a bit on the shy self-conscious side._ "You're sweet. It's nice to know after all these years that I still look nice to you."

"Well, yeah...course you do." she mumbled, appreciating the warmth of Kasumi at her back.

"Then why do you get embarrassed about things like this? Goodness knows you've seen enough of me over the years."

"I dunno, just old habits kick in every once in a while. I love you Kasumi, more than anything. I guess sometimes I just worry that when I react like that you'll think I'm...."

"You are not, nor ever were, a pervert" she interrupted, a sudden seriousness injected into her voice. "You know, there are times when I'd like to mallet my little sister into a large pile of goo. You've been dealing with the guilt she pounded into you for what, almost forty years?!" This had been one of the things that try as she might, she could not completely cure Ranma of. _I guess it was his first real experience with a girl that he card for, and it just stuck._ She thought to herself. She turned Ranma around and stared into her eyes. "Are you a pervert?"

"No" she whispered.

"Are you a pervert!"

"No. I'm not" she said more resolutely. She stepped forward and hugged Kasumi back, then shared a long kiss.

"That's better. Let's change and get moving."

Moments later, they were in clean clothes, and thanks to the thermos in his stuff space, he was now male again. They had only walked a few minutes when they sensed some fairly powerful ki signatures ahead of them. Since the didn't expect company this soon after coming to China, they both stopped and waited to see what was coming for them. Within a few moments, 5 young women rounded the bend ahead, each in traditional Amazon garb.

Kasumi looked at Ranma, who was looking back at her. They both shrugged their shoulders and then walked ahead to meet the newcomers. As they got closer, they recognized the leader from one of their earlier visits.

"Good afternoon Mascara." greeted Ranma.

"Good afternoon Ranma." The pink haired leader replied.

"So, what do we owe this pleasure to?"

"Elder Ku Lohn directed us to escort you to the village."

Now Kasumi joined the conversation. "Do you know why?"

Mascara looked uncomfortable. "Yes Kasumi, I do know...but....could we talk in private"

"Oh my. Certainly." Kasumi and Ranma followed the Amazon to a safe distance away from the other four escorts.

"Okay, so what gives?" asked Ranma.

"It is difficult to admit, but...a few days ago, Shan Pu disappeared, and we believe that she visited Jusenkyo in an effort obtain some cursed water. We haven't seen her since. Elder Cologne believes she desires to use the waters she obtained against you and your wife." She spoke the last looking down at the ground in obvious embarrassment.

"Great. I thought you guys were watching her after her last little stunt." The last time they visited the village. Shampoo had made a completely unsuccessful attempt at Kasumi's life. In fact it was Kasumi herself that soundly defeated Shampoo, much to her chagrin.

Mascara's eyes flicked up to meet his gaze. "We weren't expecting her to get help?"

"Who? I thought everyone in the village had accepted us long ago?"

"All but one, and I think you know who that is."

"Mousse.....great....but how?"

"He has been studying medicine for the last few years. He had convinced many of us that he wanted to be a useful member of the village. Since his strength had been sealed, we thought that his interest in healing was acceptable. We did not realize that he was building his knowledge for the sole purpose of using it as a weapon against the tribe. The fool evidently would do anything for Shampoo. The two women assigned to guard duty were both knocked out by a very fast acting gas that was a derivative of one of our anesthetics. They were found by their relief two hours later."

At this point one of the four other escorts approached the group. "Excuse the intrusion, but we need to keep moving, our orders were...."

"Yeah, yeah. Knowing Cologne, it was 'keep them moving at all times, do not let their arrogance cause them to be sitting targets' " Ranma turned to Mascara. "Don't worry about it, we'll be okay. Let's just get going."

"As you wish"

Ranma turned his head toward Kasumi and murmured "Amazons. Gotta love 'em huh Kasumi?"

-**-

Setsuna was leaning against a pillar watching Rei prepare for the fire reading. She hated to rely on Rei's talent, not that it hadn't helped at times, it was just so...uncertain. _Not that I have much choice in the matter _she thought to herself _with the Gates going whacky, I'll take whatever information I can get._

Rei was finishing the preparations when she said "So Setsuna, where were the outers last night?"

Setsuna's eyebrows furrowed for a moment then she replied "Actually, I'm not sure. Michiru said Haruka wasn't feeling too well last night. Since I'd already briefed them on the situation, I figured it wouldn't hurt to let them miss it."

"Is she okay?"

"Oh yes, I had the same question. Michiru said she pulled a muscle during some sparring match with another Martial Artist. You know her, she probably decided to challenge some six foot tall, 200 pound master."

Far off, Haruka sneezed, initiating another pulse of pain to her bruises.

"I think I'm ready, you can come over if you'd like."

Setsuna walked over to the edge of the bed of red hot coals. Well, at least as close as she could, after a moment she backed up a few steps to let her face cool down.

"Yeah, hotter than you think. I've gotten used to it, plus I think I have a higher tolerance with the Mars connection." She paused and added "I'll need a few moments of silence, while I concentrate on our request of the fire."

Setsuna quietly watched Rei enter her meditative trance. Her Senshi senses could feel the power buildup, although it was different than in battle. Instead of the normal focused aura of power when she was in Senshi mode, this was more suffused, more subtle. She watched as Rei slowly opened her eyes and then raised her arms, her gaze never shifting from the wavering coals. Setsuna could feel Rei's aura extend to the pit of coals, and then slowly, ever so slowly, she began to make out wispy shapes in the wavering image.

During the few moments of the image, the two Senshi only received the most fleeting of glimpses of images. They saw the back of young man with a pig-tail standing next to a woman with long hair. They were watching some teen-aged youths talking. Three of them were obviously siblings, but the fourth had her head turned and they could only see her dark black hair. The image zoomed in on her, but again they only were able to see a quick glimpse of a profile before the image blurred into random flickers of flame. It wasn't enough to get a real ID on the girl, but they could tell she was young. Almost....

"Was that...Hotaru?" Rei finally whispered.

"It looked like her...from the back. All I could tell was that she was young, had dark black hair, and seemed to dress in the style of Hotaru, but....." Pluto stopped. She couldn't jump to conclusions at this point. "Rei, what were we being shown?"

"I just concentrated on the fire showing us the cause of the Time Gate's problems. Over the years I've found that the best way to do this is to let the fire help me, and to try not to be too specific. If you try to ask too detailed of a question, you could word it wrong and get shown something that just throws you off."

Pluto looked back into the fire, thinking for a bit. "So, are these new enemies?"

Rei shook her head. "Not necessarily. I didn't ask for that. Only that somehow, these people have something to do with the problems you are having."

"Can you try to get more?"

Rei shrugged. "I doubt it. But I can try".

For the next 45 minutes, Rei tried to get another image to appear, with no luck. Eventually, Pluto decided that they had done enough, and that she'd try to sift through some images in the Gates to see if she could get a whiff of information on the people from the vision.

-**-

"Kasumi, Son-in-law, it's good to see you again" said Cologne as she hopped over to the two. She inspected the two and finally said. "You know, it's not fair. I may be 300 years old, but at least I show my age, you two just stay the same."

"Thank you...Grandmother" said Kasumi.

Ranma snorted. Here he thought he'd left the _Son-in-law_ title long ago, but in a rather bizarre twist, he had it again. The first time they had visited the village after they had returned from the world of Yesterday (as he liked to call it), they had found out that Cologne's position in the community had suffered. Between her failure of not having Shampoo marrying Ranma, and the embarrassment of Shampoo's actions when they returned, she was no longer held in as high a regard by the tribe. It was Kasumi's idea that provided the ideal solution. She suggested that Cologne should adopt her and then by default her family would bring Ranma into the village as an Amazon. Even Cologne was first surprised, and then impressed with her reasoning. It solved several problems, and reinstated Cologne's position within the tribe. It unfortunately once again made Ranma Cologne's Son-in-law again. The only problem was the obvious reaction by Shampoo, but by then, Cologne had realized that her great-granddaughter's obsession with Ranma would never be fixed, and that her displeasure would just have to be dealt with. It turned out that Cologne had to adopt her as her granddaughter and not a great-granddaughter as Shampoo had been. This prevented Shampoo from fighting Kasumi for seniority, as it made her Shampoo's technical step-mother. It also had the side-effect of making Ranma permanently off-limits since he was now her Step-father-in-law. _Ugh, makes my head hurt just to think of all this stuff_ he thought.

"You know, you can call me by my name" said Ranma.

"Nonsense! Somehow it just seems fitting. Come, come, let us go the house and talk for a spell." She turned and led them to her home.

"Sheesh. That's all I am to people, just a title. Son-in-law, foul sorcerer, airen, pervert..."

"Exactly!" Cologne agreed with a grin as she looked back. "After all Kasumi, isn't that all males are good for?"

A few moments later they arrived at Colognes house. Not much had changed over the years, but to Ranma's surprise, he did notice two picture frames on a small table. One was a picture of Kasumi and him, and the other was taken last year of their children.

They sat down around her table, and Cologne brought over some tea that she had waiting.

"So, Shampoo and Mousse finally decided to make a move for it, huh? Asked Ranma.

Cologne reached up and tugged at one of the strands of her white hair. "Yes, unfortunately so. I told them that Mousse could never be trusted, but his family had enough connections to allow him to train as a healer. Who knows how long he's been planning something like this."

Kasumi set down her tea. "Do you think Shampoo and he have finally gotten together then?"

"No child. I'm afraid that he's just using Shampoo's hatred and obsession to make her tolerate him enough to be with him, but to Mousse's twisted mind, I guess that's enough. I thought with everything we had in place, she'd never make an attempt against you, but now, I'm not so sure."

Ranma could see how distressed Cologne was about the whole situation. Over the last twenty years, she really had accepted the two of them as her family. The fact that her own great-granddaughter was possibly moving against them was tearing her apart.

Years ago, before the trip to Yesterday, Ranma, in his own way, had developed a certain respect for Cologne. The years with Kasumi, coupled with his time with Cologne on these visits, had grown that respect into some true affection. In her own way, Cologne had done more for him than his own family ever had.

He reached over and grabbed her hand. "Don't worry about it Cologne. It won't be a problem."

She looked up sharply. "Not a problem? For goodness sakes, it was Jusenkyo water. Who knows what she'll do with it. You...Kasumi...or even your children. You know she'll do anything to hurt you at this point."

To her amazement, Ranma snapped his wrist and sent his tea flying at Kasumi! She saw the tea splash off Kasumi, felt a brief flare of Ki, but to her surprise, Kasumi didn't seem to flinch, and neither was she wet! The tea didn't disappear, it just didn't seem to hit Kasumi. She could see it dripping of the table and chair around her. It was then that she realized what had happened. "You've figured out how to keep from being splashed, haven't you."

Ranma just grinned. Kasumi was the one that finally answered "Yes, we have. Ranma actually thought about something like this happening many years ago. You know his 'everything is training' attitude. He started playing with some techniques and found that if we used the Ki shield technique he had developed, we could actually deflect the water. The trick was to make it a reflex. Let's just say that it was fun for a while, then annoying, but finally it worked. Turns out that it was one of the first things he even taught the kids. I'm not saying it's foolproof, but if Shampoo tries something, she might be a bit surprised.

They could see the tension leave Cologne's face. "Thank the Goddess. I was a bit concerned, but now..."

"...we can relax." Ranma's stomach chose this moment to let out a loud growl. "Anything for lunch?"

-**-

Kasumi sat with Cologne, watching Ranma spar with four of the village's best warriors. It had been a pleasant four days visiting the village. After Ranma and her had spent so long here themselves, it really did seem like a second home to her. Plus, Cologne had slowly taken the role of a second, albeit older, mother to her, and it was nice to be able to talk to somebody who could appreciate the situation that she and Ranma were in.

They were in one of the training circles that were found throughout the village, this one being very close to Cologne's house. Ranma had been sparring, well, really just training, the Amazons for over 40 minutes so far. She smiled as she watched Ranma block two incoming blows, then leap up over the heads of all four of the Amazons, deflecting several throwing knives as he spun on his axis, head down. With a quick bend at the waist his feet briefly touched the head of the farthest warrior, and then he propelled himself over to the left side of the circle, as the four regrouped.

The oldest warrior paused, then split into over a dozen cloned images, using the Splitting Cat Hairs technique. The other three warriors took a moment, and then also cloned themselves. Within a few seconds, there were over 50 targets for Ranma to choose from.

Ranma looked over to his wife. "Hey Kasumi, how long to take them all down?"

"Ranma, please! Don't show off".

"Oh, very well."

Cologne was surprised to see Ranma remain motionless as all of the cloned warriors attacked him at once. Soon he was buried beneath a huge pile of Amazons. She watched, knowing that the boy would be up to something, and wasn't disappointed when the mound of bodies quickly swelled and then exploded in all directions, causing all but four of the warriors to wink out of existence. She could feel the wave of Ki wash over her, and could feel the clean power that the boy was able to project.

In his youth, he used confidence a lot, perhaps too much, and it had a cocky flavor to it. Now it was blended with experience, care and an inner peace that had a refreshing effect on Cologne as it passed over her.

"You are very lucky Kasumi. You know that don't you?"

She smiled as she watched Ranma battle the few Amazons who re-engaged her husband after the explosion of Ki he released. After several minutes of dodging, lightly tapping each warrior to indicate an opening or weakness, the remaining women saluted Ranma and thanked him for the training. Finally, Ranma walked over to Cologne and Kasumi. As he came over, Kasumi turned to Cologne and said. "Oh yes, I do. Strange how someone trying to kill somebody could bring about such a wonderful thing in my life."

Nothing more was said until Ranma plopped down next Kasumi on the bench they were sitting at.

"Your girls seem to be getting better each year."

"Indeed. In case you haven't noticed, which I'm sure you have, there are always many eyes watching you spar. Each one is committed to memorizing your every move, and then analyzes and tries to reproduce what you do, teaching others in the village. You have become a visiting puzzle, and it drives the women to become better and better. Not only am I glad you come to visit, but you are helping the village."

"Ah...No problem. It's actually kind of fun. The students I have back home aren't anywhere near as good as your worst fighters. You guys are in a whole different league. At least when I come here I can get a real workout."

They sat for a bit, watching the village move around them and then Cologne said. "Ranma, I talked to the Elder Council this morning about your plan to deal with the visions you've had in your dreams."

Ranma didn't turn to look at her, he just kept watching people occasionally walk by. "And......"

"And they are split as to what they should do. While everyone in the village has come to enjoy and appreciate your visits and your membership into the tribe, most don't know you like I do, and are not convinced anything should be done on a...male's...vision. While it is true that some aspects of your dream correspond to some ancient legends the Amazons have about a timeless woman who has appeared to us over the last three thousand years. Whenever she has appeared, this woman has had her own agenda and has not necessarily been a friend to the Amazons."

Ranma continued to sit for a while. The finally said, "So we're on our own if we do this...."

Cologne sighed. "Most likely. I'm sorry Ranma, there's not much more I can offer. Other than my own support."

"Nah, you've done enough. Heck for all I know, it's just a bad dream."

"Have you done anything about your vision yet?"

"Not much really. Mostly just made the decision and had Nabiki looking for more information."

"Never the less, if you need help with your project, you know I'm here for you if you need it."

"Thanks Cologne, I really appreciate it."

They sat for a bit, watching a group of children pass by. After a few more moments, Kasumi said "Ranma, did you ask Cologne?"

Cologne could see Ranma start to squirm out of the corner of her eye. He didn't answer right away. "More what?" queried Cologne, as she turned to see Ranma's face continue to flush, and then a bright red. _Oh, I love it. If I'm right about what she's asking, I'll win my bet with Talc. I'd almost given up hope that I'd win._ She just sat there watching Ranma squirm with embarrassment.

"Ranma?" Asked Kasumi again.

Ranma took a deep breath and finally answered Kasumi. "No...I...haven't found the right time to ask her yet."

"Really? Ask me what?" Cologne queried again.

"Well...uh...remember the...um...the stuff you gave Kasumi last time we visited?"

_YES! Take that talc! I knew it! Now keep a straight face, milk this for all it's worth.... _"What stuff are you referring to? Those scrolls I found?"

If it were possible for Ranma to turn any redder, he would have. Cologne watched his eyes dart around as he tried to find the words that she knew were stuck in his throat."

"Grandmother?"

Cologne hated to take her eyes off the boy even for an instant at this point, but she shifted her gaze to Kasumi.

"Yes child?"

"I believe what my husband was trying to ask for was for some more of the Instant Nannichuan that you let me try last time."

"Really?" She couldn't contain her grin any longer. With the unusually long lifespans that the Amazon's were blessed with, it was not uncommon for couples who had been with each other for a long time to become somewhat experimental in their personal relationships. The allure of finding out 'what it was like on the other side' was actually quite common. Even she had walked in her husband's shoes a few times throughout their long marriage. There were a few couples within the Amazon's history where one of the members had been cursed to change genders, and in these cases it inevitably led the other spouse to finally want to experience what their wife or husband went through. She and Talc had made a bet that not only would the Saotome's use the packets Cologne slipped Kasumi last time, but that they would want some more on their next visit. Talc reasoned that with Ranma's macho background, he'd never take that step, but Cologne had bet that living with his curse for over forty years, coupled with a very understanding and loving wife, would be enough for him to finally give in to her, and his, curiosity.

Ranma was no longer even trying to make eye contact, instead he was looking off in the distance while Kasumi continued the conversation.

"Yes. Thank you for letting me experience what my husband has gone through for all these years. I can't say that I prefer that form, but you were correct that it is an interesting...diversion...occasionally."

Meanwhile, Ranma was sure he would suffer from spontaneous combustion. Yes, he had learned that the curse could be lived with, and yes at times it had its advantages, but to admit to this to Cologne, was...just...too...much.

Cologne shifted her gaze back to Ranma. "Ranma, is this true?"

Without looking back at her, he muttered a soft "yeah".

"Ranma, you may think I'm teasing you...well...I am a little bit, but let me explain something to you. Many Amazons, myself included, have had the privilege of experiencing what you and Kasumi have."

Ranma jerked his head around with wide eyes at Cologne. "Really?"

"Of course. To you it was at first a curse, then an annoyance, and then finally just a part of you. But to others, it is one of the greatest mysteries of life. Look, I know you, and I know how you must feel about this, but I also know something else." She paused, waiting for Ranma to comment.

"What?"

"That the one thing you need to remember, is the one thing Kasumi here has known from the day she met you. You are still the same person. That means that if Kasumi shows you affection in your female form, it isn't because she is attracted to females, she is attracted to you. She isn't with another woman, she's with her husband, who just happens to look a little differently than he normally does. The same goes for you. Whatever you and she do together, you do with each other, not some stranger."

Ranma's eyes once again found the ground. He thought of their years together, how that for all of Akane's claims of him being perverted, it was Kasumi who was the more adventurous of the two of them. Not that he hadn't enjoyed the journey, he just felt self conscious about it. "Yeah, you're right...it's still...a bit embarrassing. But thanks, I'm glad Kasumi finally got to know, she's always wondered...."

"It's not a problem, and I'm glad I could help out. Kasumi, come with me and I'll get a few more packages for you before you leave."

As the two women got up to leave, Ranma stayed on the bench. _Sheesh! Here I am worrying about how I'm gonna stop the end of the world, and I get more upset by those two having __**that**__ particular conversation._

-**-

Usagi was breathing heavily as she plunged through the door. "Am I late?" she gasped. She quickly looked around to see the rest of the girls finishing a...meal? "Waaaaa! You ate without me!"

Haruka looked up "Consider it an incentive to get here on time. We got tired of sitting around waiting for you to show up, so we decided to bring some food from now on. That way when you are late, we don't just sit here waiting." She popped the last tidbit into her mouth. "I think we're ready to begin."

"Usagi, sit down. We need to talk about what Rei and I found out during our fire reading."

"Did you find out what was going on" asked Makoto

"We're not sure." She turned to her right and looked at Hotaru. "We think...that some people might try to get to Hotaru some how."

Luna chimed in "What do you mean, which people?"

"We only got a fleeting glance. We saw Hotaru with a man with a pigtail, and a woman with long brown hair, and three kids about her age."

Everybody noticed the slightly shocked expression on Hotaru's face, but they assumed it was her reaction to hearing about what Setsuna and Rei had seen. None of them, at least yet, made the other connection.

"Well, what were they doing to her? Were they torturing her, had they hurt her, was she imprisoned?" Asked a worried looking Haruka.

Rei cleared her throat before answering. "Uh...well...they were just standing with her, but that's what the fire reading showed us when we asked who was responsible for the problems with the gates of time."

Now it was Usagi who finally spoke up. "Let me get this straight. You saw someone who might be Hotaru, who was standing with some people, and this is your big threat".

Everyone stared at Pluto. If Usagi could understand just how ridiculous this sounded, then Pluto must realize she was over-reacting.

"Wait...you said three kids about Hotaru's age?" asked Haruka now making the connection.

"Yes, the oldest was a girl, maybe almost our age though".

"With red hair?" she drawled.

"Yes, have you seen them?" prompted the Senshi of Time.

Haruka's posture changed, you could tell she wasn't pleased. "As a matter of fact we did. There were three of them, supposed to be Hotaru's new friends. They saved her from some bullies a while back. The younger two seemed okay, but the girl was a real pain, a real smart-mouth."

Rei looked at Haruka. "Anything unusual about them?"

Haruka, shifted her stance. "Well, the girl was pretty good at fighting. Nothing magical, but she knew her way around Martial Arts."

Pluto looked at the defensive way Haruka was standing, then looked a Michiru. "How good was she?"

"She...beat Haruka."

The rest of the Senshi managed a combined face-fault. Finally it was Luna who finally spoke. "Wait, a normal girl managed to beat you?"

"Well yeah, in a normal fight. So what?"

Pluto turned and looked out the window. "Maybe nothing, but it does seem unusual. Look, I'm not saying we're going to do anything to the kids, or the parents. All I'm saying is that I'd like to keep Hotaru away from them. I just don't think it is too much to ask while we figure things out. You don't understand, not really. I've watched the gates for so long...and they were always there, always guiding, and now, they are slowly fading away, timeline by timeline. It means all those years of work are slowly slipping away. I'll also try to see if I can find some information about that family."

The girls sat in silence, then finally Minako spoke up. "I guess that would be okay. What does Hotaru think about it?"

Their heads swiveled to Hotaru, who had been silent so far.

"Setsuna, do I have to. They were really nice."

"Maybe they are, maybe they aren't. I just want you to stick with us for a while until we get some more information about what is going on. Can you do this, for Crystal Tokyo?"

Hotaru looked dejected, but finally whispered. "Okay".

"Look, I'm sure you'll miss your new friends, but I'm sure this will help things out."

* * *

**Authors Note:** First, sorry about the slower updates, but I'm rather obsessive about completing things, so this will finish, I just need to find time to work on it more often.

Believe it or not, the great reviews make it harder. I really appreciate the kind words, and I really hope I don't disappoint any of you. I'm pleased to find that writing like this is a real honor.

I've found that I like some of the "answered" reviews at the end of an author's chapter, so I figure I would at least honor those kind enough to review and maybe answer any questions. So, here goes:

JustinD: Ah, I'm sure you will be pleased with Shampoo's interaction with the Saotome's

haganameron: Thanks, I really am trying to find the time to work on this, I'm just so overloaded with life, I'm finding it's harder to work on this than I thought

ctang: Thanks! I've taken care of 'em

Awlric Hayel: Wow. That is one of the nicest compliments I could get.

TegwenielWestwind: I'm trying to balance more interactions with not getting too far off track. Hopefully I'm doing better.

Dumbledork: I'm going to try to get some of the original characters in, but many won't play a significant part, but some...will!

CrimsonNoble: Yeah, I realize I may really mangle the Sailor Moon timeline...all I can say is I hope I don't corrupt it so much that people can't enjoy the story. I'm not trying to, it's just how the story works....

Quathis: Hopefully this chapter answered some of your questions.


	4. Chapter 4

_Authors Note: First, sorry about the long wait. I've clearly underestimated how busy I'd be and it seems like I have no time to write lately. Second, I've been thinking about some of the reviews. I think there's been great support of the story, and even a few good criticisms. The problem is, I'm not a good enough writer to be able to change my style too much. I kind of write what I feel, and the more I read reviews, and a few of the other truly great writers of Ranma fanfiction, I'm kind of psyching myself out feeling like I can't really live up to people's expectations. I finally decided to just plow ahead, do the best I can, and not worry about it anymore. That means that I have to just accept that all I can do is the best I can do, and hopefully it's entertaining._

_So, on I go, and hopefully this will be worth your time. I've finally convinced myself to just keep writing, and to not stress on not writing a good enough story anymore._

_Thanks for your patience._

_

* * *

  
_

Ranma hated this visit, hated it more than any place else he had to go, even more than visiting his parents, when he could force himself to do so. It boiled down to this was the first place in his life that he could remember calling home, and due to Kasumi's touch, it was a beautiful place that was always a source of wonderful food, and Kasumi's warmth.

Now...now in the fading light at the end of the day, he once again viewed the unkempt place that long ago he called his home. It still had the Tendo Dojo sign out front, but weeds littered the once immaculate yard, and he could see the paint peeling from the wood in several places.

Kasumi reached over and took his hand in hers. He was stilled amazed at the warm comfortable feeling he got whenever he held her hand. Part of him said that it was because he had such a barren childhood, any attention would feel good, but he knew better. It was simply because he loved her so much, and when they made contact he felt even closer.

As they stood in front of the house, Kasumi could feel the slight tension in Ranma. Nobody else could spot it, but she could tell by his subtle change of posture. "Is it that bad Ranma?" she whispered as they walked to the door.

He stopped and turned to her to look in her deep brown eyes. "Yeah, it is. I always saw this place as your home more than your Dad's. It just hurts to see it like this. Heck, it even hurts to see them like this."

"I know, I know. All I can tell you is how much I appreciate you coming with me. I think it's something that we should do, and it would be much harder without you." She paused as she reached forward and opened the gate. As the gate opened, she leaned over and gave him a quick kiss. "You spoil me you know."

"Yeah, yeah. Always was a sucker for girls. Ask anyone."

They pushed the gate open and went inside. He could tell that somebody had done some yard work, and the Koi pond didn't look too bad (he could see a few orange and white shapes moving in the murky water). They continued up the steps and slid open the patio door. Ranma actually expected worse. The furniture had been replaced since he had originally stayed here, but even now, it looked like it could use another upgrade. The couch cushions were worn, and the rug had noticeable worn spots. As they walked in, he got a quick glance at the kitchen and saw glimpses of blackened pans and a well patched kitchen counter.

"Hello? Anybody here?" called Kasumi.

Ranma mentally chanted to himself. _Please be out...please be out...please be..._

"Kasumi! You're here!" shouted a voice from upstairs. Ranma heard the sounds of Akane's footsteps as she came down the hall towards the stairs. She quickly descended the steps and he soon saw her head appear.

She was wearing a training outfit, and her hair was long like the last time he visited. She ran to give Kasumi a hug, and Ranma found it strange that for the first time he noticed some tell-tale wrinkles starting to appear around her eyes. _I guess her temper is starting to show_ he thought. It had taken a while, but as the years progressed, he could start discerning true signs of age on his friends and family. The gray hair on his mother, Mr. Tendo's thinning hair, wrinkles starting to appear on the faces of Akane, Nabiki and even Ukyo. Oh, they weren't heavy signs, but even to see small signs was...strange. He continued to study Akane as she started making small talk with Kasumi, pointedly ignoring him. For all of her proclamations of being a Martial Artist, she really hadn't changed much in the years since he and Kasumi had returned. She still moved the same way, and from what he had heard from their "sources", she really hadn't progressed any either.

It wasn't just in Martial Arts that Akane hadn't progressed. In some ways, she was more frozen in time than Ranma and Kasumi were. Once the two of them had moved out, Akane had decided to try to run the Dojo herself. It didn't take long before her attitude and lack of patience starting scaring any potential students away. It was Kasumi's idea to have Nabiki find a steady stream of "students" who were subsidized (and eventually flat out hired), to take classes at the Tendo Dojo. It was enough to take care of Soun and Genma, and provide enough for Akane to lead a reasonable life. Initially, Ranma was against the idea, but he realized that it was the best way to keep the two fathers out of their hair, and give Akane some peace.

In the almost 20 years since they had broken up, Akane never did find a new fiancé. She seemed to not really need anybody, and lived in her own world. _Not that it seemed that far off from Kuno's_ he thought to himself. She occasionally traveled and attended some Martial Arts conferences, although she had the (unconscious) sense to avoid entering matches against the other people attending, always insisting that they were perverts or cheaters, and that only if she came across a true Martial Artist would she consider a match.

Akane broke her hug with her sister and then turned to Ranma. He watched her features harden slightly before she spoke.

"Hello Ranma"

"Hey Akane. How's it been goin'?"

She shrugged. "Not bad. I've got a few new students this month."

"That's great."

They both stood there, looking at each other until Kasumi broke the silence. "Akane, could you tell Father I'm here?"

"Sure Kasumi, I'll be right back." Akane ran up the stairs. Evidently Soun was doing something upstairs today.

"Hey Kas-chan. I'll be in my regular spot."

She looked at him with a sad smile in her eyes. These visits were hard on her too. "Of course Ranma, I'll come get you when I'm ready to go."

"Thanks Kas-chan. Good luck, and come get me if it gets too bad...."

"It won't, but thank you anyways."

Ranma went out by the neglected pond, and with a quick bounce off the wall ended up on the roof of the Dojo. When they came to visit, he always waited for Kasumi up here. Sitting on the roof always was a relaxing, peaceful activity for him. He wasn't sure why he relaxed so much, and now, it at least prevented him from having to see the rundown Dojo. He stretched out on his back and waited for the stars to slowly come out. There weren't nearly as many as at their house in the hills, but he could still see a few.

Later, he heard some steps on the roof and saw that Kasumi had joined him. "So, how did it go? Anything new?"

She lay down next to him and joined him in staring at the sky. "No, nothing really. Akane brought up how I young I look again."

"Yeah, she's not going to let that rest. She's still just as competitive after all these years. Looking older than her older sister does not sit well, and it's just going to get worse."

They lay there in silence for several minutes, then Kasumi finally spoke again. "Ranma, I know I've told you before, but thank you for choosing me. If we hadn't been sent off together, I might be still living down there with Father and Akane." She rolled to her side to look in his eyes. "I still can't believe how blind my sister was, but I'm glad I'm the one that ended up with you."

Ranma finally rolled to his side as well, and said, "Nope, the pleasure is all mine. Never did deserve you. Still don't" He leaned forward and gave his wife a long tender kiss. After a moment the kiss broke and he added "I guess being with you all these years are the god's way of balancing all the bad luck I had when I was growing up."

She smiled, gave him one more quick kiss, and then they both stood up, and began roof hopping back home.

-**-

Haruka looked up for her motorcycle technical manual as Setsuna came into the room. The look on Setsuna's face did not bode well. "Any luck with the Time Gates?" she queried.

Setsuna furrowed her brows with consternation. "Unfortunately, no. I thought with us keeping Hotaru away from those kids, things would start clearing up, but so far things seem to be the same...or worse" she sighed. "All I can figure out is that some key event in the future is the pivotal moment for these timelines, and we still haven't managed to avoid it yet." Setsuna stopped in front of the window and looked out over the garden they had planted a few months ago.

Luna had been over visiting Setsuna talking about the Time Gate mystery. She noticed the sagging posture of Setsuna and knew how she felt. This thing with the Gates was really taking its toll on her. "Have you asked Rei about another reading?"

"Yes I did. We actually tried again two days ago, but we saw the same vision again." She paused and turned to look at Haruka. "I think it means we're on the right track, I just don't understand why things aren't changing. Oh sure, I realize that something could change in the future, but I know we aren't going to change our mind about Hotaru, so I don't really understand why we aren't seeing an affect of our actions."

"What if the people in the vision aren't those kids?"

"I've thought of that too. That part of the vision is very clear, so I'm sure we've identified them properly. The only real unknown is that we can't be sure the one girl is Hotaru. I mean it makes sense, it looks like her from the rear, but without seeing her face, it could be somebody else."

Now Hotaru was puzzled. "Well, if it could be somebody else, shouldn't we be looking for her?"

Setsuna shook her head. "If, and it is a pretty big if, it is somebody else, I'm not sure how to track them down. One thing that does concern me is that I've tried using the Time Gates to track back to when Hotaru visited those kids, and all I get is a kind of weird static when I try to look at those spatial-temporal coordinates. If I try to track everyone coming and going from that location, the Gates just show more and more static. Whoever those kids are, they don't show up in the Time Gates."

Haruka sat up on the couch. "Wait, how can they not show up?"

"I don't know." she admitted. "I've never seen anything like it. I've run every diagnostic on the system I can, and everything is working properly. Those kids just don't show up on the system. I think that's why they are slowly corrupting the time lines. Something about them prevents the Gates from working properly, and I'm guessing that when they get with Hotaru, it just makes things worse."

Before either could add anything else, Setsuna's communicator went off.

She quickly brought it to her ear. "Hello?.....Yes.....Yes.....we'll be right there". Setsuna pocketed the device and said to Haruka "Get Michiru and Hotaru, the Inners are fighting some Youma and need our help."

"I'm coming too" said Luna and moments later, the group teleported to the scene of the battle.

-**-

Makoto fired off another attack as they fought off a set of three Youma. All three were identical, seeming to be a mixture of human female and some type of lizard.

"Moon! Watch out for their tails" shouted Rei as one of the creatures slid over toward the princess. They had been battling the beasts for at least 15 minutes, and every time they managed to get a decent hit in, the youma would regenerate the arm, leg, tail, whatever.

Ami looked up from her computer and yelled "It's the lizard in them, it lets the grow anything back. You need to get a complete hit, or at least separate the head for it to count!"

"Have you looked at their necks!" countered Venus. "The darn things are armor …" She stopped as she jumped over a sweeping tail. "…plated! We need some serious firepower here!"

"Then that would be us." Said Setsuna as she and the outers appeared. Haruka and Michiru immediately let go with some of their serious firepower. "Hotaru, go shield the inners while we take care of these…things."

The tide quickly turned against the youma, one had already been turned to ashes, and the other two weren't far from joining the first. As the outers continued to throw their ranged attacks, the inners noted motion from the far left, where a very large youma appeared, flanked by six more of the lizard hybrids.

"Pluto! We've got company!" Luna yelled as the inners took to the battle again, Hotaru providing an occasional Silence Wall of protection as the smaller youma entered the fray. She had been staying on the sidelines, providing advice to the inners whenever she could. One extra set of eyes was certainly helping in this battle.

Usagi glanced over her shoulder to see what Luna meant. Her eyes widened in panic as she saw Michiru unmoving on the ground, and Haruka and Setsuna desperately trying to keep the large youma away from her still form.

"Mars! Let us handle these youma, you help Pluto!" Usagi yelled as she whipped her head around in time to see another tail whip by one of the youma.

"Moon, we're in serious trouble here!" said Makoto and she launched another attack. "These things are tougher than they look, and there are too many of them. Plus, I've seen several of the Outer's attacks just bounce off the big one!"

Usagi, took another glance around Michiru was still down, and the inners were running out of steam. Retreat started to look like the only option…

-**-

"Pop, I can't believe you! Once again we've been banned from a restaurant!" lamented Ranko as they began the trip home from dinner.

It had been two days since the visit to the Tendo Dojo, and Kasumi had decided that Ranma needed a bit of cheering up. Granted, because of their reputation, this was proving more and more difficult. They had been banned (politely) from all of the all-you-can-eat restaurants in their town, and even most neighboring ones. Fortunately, Kasumi had tracked down one they hadn't visited yet in the Juuban district. It was quite a way from their house, but once they got there, Ranma's spirits quickly perked up as he began to empty the rows of food at the buffet line.

"Hey, not my fault! I noticed everyone else seemed to eat a lot too." Quipped Ranma.

Ranko blushed slightly. It was true their lifestyle had them burn through a lot of calories, but she was still self conscious of her need to consume so much food in public. Usually she managed to hold back, but this place was good, and she just got caught up in the Saotome feeding frenzy.

"Don't sweat it Dad" Riku added. "We'll find another."

"Yeah, but pretty soon, we'll burn off all of the food just getting home. This was quite a trip" yelled Dai as they continued to roof hop home.

A flash of energy caught Ranma's eye first. He stopped, looking in the direction of the light.

"What is it Ranma?" asked his wife.

"Dunno. But it felt big…maybe we should go check it out." He turned to his kids "You guys up for a little after lunch exercise?"

Their smiles were all the answer he needed as they began to hop toward the scene of the battle.

Within moments, the Saotomes were perched on top of a building looking down at a park where the Senshi were battling the youma. They watched as the Senshi were trying to hold their own against the youma attacking them. Kasumi again tell by the look on her husband's face that something was wrong. "What is it?"

"It's them."

"Them?" she asked.

"The ones in my dreams…"

Kasumi was confused. She could feel the evil auras of the youma, and clearly the girls were fighting them, so she assumed the girls were one of the good guys.

"Pop? What do you want to do?" asked Ranko "They look like they are fading fast…"

"Let's kick butt first, and ask questions when we're done" he said as he cracked his knuckles. Let's go…" he yelled as he jumped off the roof into the battle, his family quickly following behind.

-**-

Setsuna was tired, sore, and starting to get concerned. She and Hotaru had been slowly losing the battle with the large youma, and she was trying to figure out how they could extract themselves from the fight to regroup. Haruka was wobbling on her feet, and she cringed as she saw the large youma whip it's tail around in an obvious killing blow. As she tried to dredge up enough energy for another Dead Scream, she was amazed to see a bolt of energy come from behind her and blast the youma back into a stand of trees bordering the park.

"Need some help? Asked a voice from behind her. She turned, and her blood ran cold as she saw the family in the fire reading standing near the downed Michiru.

-**-

After their Dad blasted the large youma, Dai and Riku decided to help the inners as Kasumi bent over Michiru. "Hey, wait for me!" yelled Ranko.

-**-

Usagi saw the flash of unfamiliar energy, and was amazed to see the large youma go down with the blast. It wasn't seriously hurt…yet…but whatever it was added some serious firepower to their conflict. When she had a moment, she glanced over to see three kids her age come charging into battle, where an older couple was with the Outers. She couldn't believe her ears as the red-haired girl yelled "Hey, wait for me!" like she was missing out on a party or something! "Wait, don't come…" was all she could get out when the lead boy let loose with some type of energy blast from his cupped hands, which slammed into the closest youma. Her jaw dropped further as the two behind him let loose with their own blasts, taking two more of the lizard-things out of the battle.

"Need a hand with these things?" The red-headed girl asked.

"Uh…sure!" stammered Usagi.

Rei on the other hand recognized the newcomers instantly. This was the family that had appeared in the fire reading with Hotaru! She looked at Setsuna and saw the shocked look on her face as well, and quickly made a decision based on her earlier discussions with Setsuna.

"Jupiter, Venus, take Hotaru and get to Pluto NOW!" she yelled. These people may be helping them now, but they weren't getting their hands on Hotaru no matter what. "Usagi, Mercury, let these guys handle the youma; we need to get to Pluto too."

The others weren't sure what was going on, but they had worked as a team long enough to recognize the surety in Rei's voice. They wordlessly followed her instructions, and soon the Senshi had gathered around Pluto and the outers, as they watched the newcomers battle the youma.

The kids quickly adjusted their tactics with the youma. The group had figured out that their initial attacks didn't work as planned, as the youma suffered no significant damage and just absorbed the life energy powering the blasts. The oldest male of the group yelled something about shifting their attacks, and their subsequent blasts seemed to have devastating effect on the youma. It seems that for all the problems the Senshi had, these…kids…had no problem at all with the creatures. They saw all three launch energy blasts from their outstretched hands and the last of the smaller youma turned to ash.

The older girl was finishing her work with Michiru, who was now coming around, her color looking much better.

"Thank you Mrs. Saotome!" said Hotaru, who had worked her way over to Michiru. She looked down at Michiru and said, "See Michiru-mama, isn't she as good a healer as I said she was?"

Michiru looked up unsteadily and finally realized who was helping them. "Thank you" she said to Kasumi. She turned to Hotaru and asked "is this the woman who helped you two weeks ago?".

"Um-hmm. She sure is! I told you she was the best."

Hotaru watched the exchange and was torn between wanting to hug the woman for helping Michiru, or to grab her and Hotaru and run like mad. She too had seen enough with Setsuna to know that these people should not get too close to Hotaru and thus ruin their plans for Crystal Tokyo.

-**-

Ranma and Kasumi were getting frustrated. Early on, Ranma had realized the physical contact with the creature resulted in an immediate leaching of his Ki. He was able to minimize it, but clearly the creature fed on life energy. Ranma immediately tried the shifted frequency Ki attack that Kasumi had created and it seemed the beast was unable to process the altered Ki. He had quickly instructed his kids to do the same.

After the quick yell to his children to use the altered Ki attack, they began pummeling the creatures with ranged attacks. The smaller youma were easily handled by Ranko, Dai and Riku. He and Kasumi on the other hand…. The altered Ki blasts hurt the darned thing, but not as much as they'd like, and the collateral property damage was adding up quickly. He needed to come up with something that will take the creature out quickly.

"Kasumi! I think we'll have to use hot and cold!" Ranma yelled to his wife.

Kasumi nodded, and a look of concentration passed over her face as she began to circle counterclockwise around the youma. Ranma started in the same direction, opposite Kasumi. He and Kasumi had come across this variation of the Hiro-shoten-hah in the Amazon archives. The original version required the opponent to generate hot Ki, while the attacker used the soul-of-ice. In this more difficult version, one attacker generated hot Ki, the other cold. This no longer required the target to generate any Ki at all. The only downside was the intense coordination needed to successfully execute this advanced attack.

-**-

Dai was the first to realize what his parents were doing, and going by the amount of Ki they were both generating, this was going to be very messy.

"Ranko! Riku! Get everybody out of here! Now!"

Ranko was at first confused, then saw what Dai was looking at and realized what was going to happen. She ran over to the Senshi and barked "We need to get out of here…NOW!"

-**-

The girls were confused, and failed to move. Riku and Dai picked up Michiru (much to her protests) and started dragging her away. Ranko looked at Pluto and said "Mom and Dad are going to let go a really big attack, if we stay here, we'll get hurt. We need to get a safe distance away."

While Pluto doubted the child really knew what she was talking about, she recognized a potential exit strategy and decided to do as requested. "Let's go!" she told Usagi and the Senshi followed the first three away from the scene.

When the two boys carrying Michiru stopped, Pluto turned around in time to see the man and woman both raise their arms as they shouted something. Her jaw literally dropped when she saw a highly focused tornado form between the two of them, surrounding the large youma. Both fighters then seemed to touch the ground and a huge spray of concrete was sent toward the twister where it was sucked into the vortex where the youma now twisted.

The winds were howling past them as Setsuna watched the Youma rise into the air, the chunks of rock and debris tearing into it as it rose. She managed to see the Youma fade to into the tornado as it turned to dust just as it was fading from view.

She turned to the three children and panted "What…the…….hell…..was…….that?!!".

The girl looked up and get just smiled. "Oh just something Mom and Pop picked up in China. They've improved on it quite a bit actually. Between the two of them, they no longer need the target to cooperate. Quite effective, don't you agree?"

The other Senshi were now standing up, looking at the leaves, papers and lightweight debris that was still falling out of the sky as the tornado wound down.

Setsuna realized now was a good time to break from the newcomers. "Would you excuse us for just a minute? We need to talk amongst ourselves? It'll only be for a few moments."

The three looked at each other, one shrugged his shoulders, and the girl said "Sure. We'll be over with Mom and Pop." She watched as they stood, and walked back to the center of the park where their parents were. _Looks too young to be their parents_ she thought to herself.

Setsuna turned back to the group and said in a low voice. "We need to go. Now!"

"But why Pluto? The youma are gone" responded Usagi.

"Because these are the people Rei saw in her fire reading, right?" shot Haruka.

"Exactly. I'll explain later, let's go." With a flash, Setsuna teleported all of the them back to the temple.

-**-

"An interesting challenge, huh kids?" asked Ranma as his children walked up. He noticed a quick flash of light where the funny dressed girls had been, then saw that they were gone. "What? Was it something I said?"

Ranko gave her father a puzzled look. "What do you mean?"

"Seems like the girls we helped decided to leave even without saying 'Thank you'" as he nodded bgind his kids.

The three younger Saotomes turned around to see an empty alley where the Senshi used to be. "What?! They just left? We saved their butts!" exclaimed Dai.

"Yeah! What's with that? Why would they just take off" agreed Ranko. She glanced at Riku and saw that he had a long face. No doubt disappointed that his new friend took off like that. "Sorry Riku."

He gave at a sigh and answered "Ah, no problem". He turned around and surveyed the damage. "Wow Pop, you really did a number on this place."

Ranma looked around. Three badly dented cars, several broken windows, and the crater where he and Kasumi had launched their Breaking Point attacks to add shrapnel to the tornado. He rubbed the back of his head with his right hand and muttered "Yeah, I guess we did".

Riku was wandering around the edge of the battle area looking at the odds and ends of debris. He was over where the Senshi were originally doing battle when he saw a small black leg and tail sticking out of some branches and paper.

_Oh man! Poor thing!_ He thought to himself as he stooped down to get a better look. Even though his father had brought his cat-phobia under control, he still wasn't a big fan of the animals. Riku on the other hand always wanted a cat, but his father never liked them enough to want one around all the time.

As he got closer, he could see the slight movement of its body. _It's still alive! _"Hey…Mom! Come here!"

Kasumi walked over to where her youngest child was looking at something. "What is it Riku?"

"I think this cat got hurt in the fight. Do you think…maybe…we could at least take it home until it gets better?"

"Oh my" said Kasumi as she knelt down next to her son. She could see the cat was breathing still. "Riku, you know we can't keep this, right?" she said quietly to him as she began to gently remove the covering debris.

Riku nodded. "Yeah, I know. But just for a little bit, until it gets better?"

She looked into his dark brown eyes. "Well….I guess you father wouldn't mind if we helped out a hurt animal. Be careful when you pick it up."

Riku gently lifted the unconscious cat. He held it in his arms, face up, and noticed the golden upturned crescent on its forehead.

-**-

Minako plopped down on one of the couches and was the first to ask Setsuna the question most of them had on their minds. "So, what was the big hurry in getting out of there? We didn't even get a chance to thank them. Seems to me to be pretty rude."

Setsuna addressed them all. "That is the family that Rei and I saw in her fire reading. They have something to do with the Time Gates malfunctioning, and I didn't want them to be around Hotaru any longer than necessary."

Now Makoto chimed in. "Yeah, well they didn't seem that bad to me. Seems to me they were fighting the same bad guys that we fight. If they're such a threat to the Time Gates, how come they helped us?"

The rest of the Inners, plus Hotaru, nodded in agreement.

Setsuna shook her head. "I wish I knew. I've never seen them on the Gates before, but now that we know where they are, we should be able to find out more about them. The main thing is that we've managed to keep Hotaru away from them, so hopefully the Crystal Tokyo outcomes should look better."

"I still think it was wrong just to run away" added Usagi. "We were in big trouble there, and without their help, we would have been in big trouble."

"Yeah, about that" stated Haruka. "Kind of convenient that these 'people', these somehow super-powered, non-magical people just happened to be there at the right time, and they were able to take out a super powered Youma that even we were having problems with."

Finally Michiru added "It's true. How could these people have not shown up on our magical scans before. Ami, during the fight did you pick up any magical signatures."

"No, I didn't. I did a quick scan of all five of them. The two oldest were literally off the scale for life energy, but there was only a small, erratic magical signature on the male. The kids were like the older female, huge life energy, no magical signature."

"Hmm…that is strange. So then, did we taking Hotaru with us make things any better at the Time Gates?"

Setsuna grabbed her staff. "Good question. I'll be right back." There was a brief flash, and she was gone.

The girls talked amongst themselves, with Minako doing most of the talking about how good the older one of the strangers looked, and why couldn't the two youngest be just a little bit older. Nobody noticed the absence of Luna.

Within a few minutes, Setsuna was back. Everyone could tell by the look on her face that things didn't go well.

Usagi could wait any longer "What happened? What's wrong?"

Setsuna was rattled, and it showed in her voice. "Whatever we did back there didn't make it better; it's now a lot worse."

-**-

The following day, Riku was sitting in the kitchen with his mother. Kasumi had been tending to the cat since they had got home last night. Ranma was thrilled to have it around, but he did actually feel bad for the animal and said that as long as it was kept out of the Dojo and his bedroom, it could stay until it was fully healed.

Kasumi sat down at the table where her son was sitting. They could both see the cat in a basket with blankets that they set up the night before. "Riku, have you ever seen this cat before?"

"No mom. Just found her laying there when I was walking around."

"Interesting…." Kasumi started, then just looked at the cat some more.

"What?"

"Well, granted I haven't seen too many cats before, but we did have one in our neighborhood when I was growing up."

"And…."

"Well, this one is just…different…"

"Different how?"

"Hmmm…well, for starters, her Ki, and yes the cat is a girl cat, doesn't look like a normal animal's. It reminds me more of human Ki than animal Ki, but it isn't really human Ki either." She explained.

"Is that bad?"

"No…not necessarily…just different. I'd like you to keep an eye out for anything unusual though when she wakes up. As near as I can tell, her front paw may have been broken. I've got it wrapped up and tried to apply some Amazon healing techniques they used on their livestock on her. I think the break is already healing, so just be careful with her."

Just then Ranma came into the kitchen. She got up on her tiptoes to give her wife a kiss on the check. "Morning Kasumi, so how's the furry little monster doing today?"

"Oh I think she's doing quite well. Going by your outfit, it looks like we are working on speed training today?"

"Yup, I figure I'll start with you, then work my way to Riku here. I've already given a heads up to Dai and Ranko that they're next on the list. You ready?"

Kasumi smiled, and it wasn't her 'isn't that nice' smile, it was the Saotome 'we'll see about that' smile. "Ready to show you who's quicker?"

Ranma smirked back at her. "Great, let's go. Riku, tell your brother and sister we'll be in the Dojo. Have Ranko come in next in about an hour."

"Sure thing Pop. Kick his butt Mom!"

Riku remained with the black cat as his parents left for their morning workout. He gently petted her soft fur as she slept on her side. After a few minutes, he saw the cats eyes open and her head popped up.

"Sh, sh" he whispered. "It's okay, you're in a safe place. Just take it easy."

The cat looked up at him, and then looked around the kitchen.

_Where in the world am I now. _ She could sense her crescent moon wasn't covered, so she could speak if she wanted to, but she knew by experience that it was best to play the simple cat until she could quietly sneak out of the human's house. _Last thing I remember, we were fighting the Youma, then those people came to help and… _She whipped her head around to stare at the young boy who was still petting her. _Oh my gosh! They've taken me prisoner! I've got to get out. _She tried to stand, but found that her leg was bandaged, and when she tried to put her weight on the limb, it hurt too much to stand.

"Hey, hey. It's alright." Riku reassured her. "You need to rest. Mom healed the break, but it's gonna be sore for a couple of days. We won't hurt you."

The cat seemed to accept it wasn't going anywhere right now, and lay back down in the basket. Riku noted it seemed to look at him suspiciously.

"You can stay here as long as you want. I asked Pop and he said it was okay. Relax. We're going to put some flyers up in the park we found you in, and we'll take you back just as soon as you feel better."

The cat looked around once more, then seemed to relax in the basket. _Hmmm. They don't seem to be a threat. I might as well keep an eye on things for a bit while I heal._

-**-

Usagi didn't notice Luna's absence until late the next day. Between the chaos of the battle, Setsuna's panicked behavior about the gates, and the fact that she slept until 11:00 the next morning, it wasn't until the afternoon hit that it occurred to her that she hadn't seen Luna in a bit.

Luna had been known to take off from time to time. Not for long, not much more than a day, but Usagi didn't panic when she finally noticed she hadn't seen her that day.

-**-

The next day, Kasumi had removed the bandage from the cat's leg and told Riku that it was okay for her to move around for a bit.

By this time, Luna had determined that this was some type of alternate heaven. The mother, Kasumi, had fed her the most delightful food Luna had ever had. Luna didn't know too much about her yet, but she simply oozed peace and tranquility, and the food she made! _Maybe I'll stay a few more days, just to make sure I'm in good shape._ Luna failed to notice the slight drool at the side of her mouth as she saw Kasumi enter the kitchen again.

Riku came into the kitchen. "Hi Mom. How's the kitty doing?"

"She seems to be quite well. Oh my! She looks like she's hungry again! Whoever owns her must not have fed her very well. Riku, give her this tuna."

"Sure Mom." He placed the plate near the black cat "Whoah! She is hungry! Man she could give Pop a run for the money."

If Luna could have blushed, she would have. _There must be some drug in that woman's cooking! I can't control myself when I'm around her!_

"Hey mom, can I take her outside for a bit, show her around?"

"Sure Riku, I think Ranko's about done with your father, and Dai should be next. Don't lose track of time and be late for your training."

"Don't worry Mom, I won't." He bent over and gently picked up the cat. "Come-on kitty, let's go outside for a bit, I'll show you around."

Luna allowed herself to be picked up and carried out of the kitchen. _Good, now I'll see some more of this place._ Instead of going into the house further, he opened the side door of the kitchen and took her outside.

It was a gorgeous day, and Luna marveled at the beautiful landscaping around the house. She could see the original house, with additions going off to either side. The grounds around the house were breathtaking!

"This is our yard Miss Kitty." Riku decided that just calling her 'cat' or 'kitty' wasn't very personable. "Mom and Pop really work on it a lot. Come on, I'll take you up to the lookout point." He walked up a gravel trail to a small hill that overlooked the valley below. To her left she could see the house, and behind it she made out some type of extremely large tree growing behind it.

Riku sat down on the bench with the cat on his lap. It was so beautiful that Luna just sat and stared at the surrounding scenery.

"I sure wish Pop liked cats more" he started. He reached over and started massaging the back of the cat's neck. "Don't think it would be quite as lonely if I had a cat for a pet. I love the feel of your fur." He said as he petted and massaged the back of her neck.

_My god, that boy has great hands. _She started to purr as she settled down in his lap.

For the next hour, Riku just sat and talked to the cat on his lap. He talked about everything. True, he talked to his mother and father, and even his sister and brother, but this was different. In all his years, he never had a truly objective observer, even if it was just a cat, to talk to. It was different. Pleasant.

While Luna was semi-catatonic due to the petting and massaging that she received from Riku, she also listened to him talk. She quickly determined that no matter what Setsuna said, these didn't seem like bad people. The boy she was with was just a regular boy. True, some of the things he off-handedly mentioned about training or his father (using female pronouns sometimes), didn't make a lot of sense yet, but she could tell this was a good person holding her. The more she talked, the more she relaxed, her worries quickly evaporating about being held by "hostile" forces.

"Oops! Almost time. Come on Miss Kitty. My time to train. I'll take you to the Dojo and then maybe Ranko or Dai can watch you while it's my turn."

They got up from the bench and travelled along a different path to the base of the extremely large tree growing a ways behind the house. The trail dipped down to a door that seemed to open into a chamber below the tree's massive root system. As they approached the tree, Luna could sense something odd about the tree, not bad, just different than she'd ever experienced before.

They proceeded inside to find Dai and Ranma stretching after their exercise. Ranma saw the cat in Riku's arms and his eyes squinted ever so slightly. "What's the cat here for?" he asked.

"Mom said she was good enough to get some fresh air? Do you mind?" Riku knew his dad didn't have any major problems with cats anymore, but he still wasn't a fan.

"No, she can stay as long as she stays still. Give her to your sister."

Luna was handed over to the oldest girl, and watched the youngest child train with his father. Now Luna had watched many, many battles of the Senshi, so she wasn't unfamiliar with rather impressive fights, but watching these two was a whole new experience. Both of them were in the air striking and counter-striking as much as they were on the ground. She could tell that despite the flurry of hard to follow moves, the father was clearly leading the student. She could make out a constant stream of comments, some compliments, and some advice, but all of them supportive.

The two stopped and approached the center of the floor.

"Okay Riku, let's see how your Ki training is coming along. Bring up your shield."

Luna watched closely as she could see a blue shield form in front of Riku. It wasn't magic, the father said it was Ki so it was some type of life energy.

"Looks good, I'm going to send a few attacks your way to see how well it holds up. I'll start out easy, and work my way up." Ranma stood with one foot in front of the other and cupped his hands. He started shooting balls of golden energy at his sun, whose shield deflected the orbs which bounced off the shield and struck the walls of the room, where they were immediately absorbed. Unfortunately one of the balls bounced directly toward the girl and her. It was too bad Luna hadn't seen Ranko and Dai practice, or she would have known that Ranko could bring up her own shield in plenty of time. Unfortunately she didn't, so everyone heard her shout "Look out!" before the attack harmlessly bounce off the shield in front of her.

Suddenly, all four of the Saotomes seemed quite interested in the little black cat.


	5. Chapter 5

_So, I finally understand how authors have huge gaps in their postings. Sometimes life just doesn't cooperate. You have every right to be upset that it has taken this long, and for that I apologize. With that being said, FINALLY a new chapter!  
_

**Chapter 5**

Ranma looked intently at the cat, or at least what he thought was a cat, on his daughters lap. Luna noted that none of the four seemed frightened, or for that matter even that surprised. She was also relieved that none of them were backing away out of fear.

Finally, Ranma turned to his oldest son and broke the silence. "Dai, get some warm water."

Of all the things Luna expected to hear, that was probably at the bottom of the list! She expected something along the lines of 'Who are you', or 'what are you doing here', but not a request for water. Luna just glanced from face to face, deciding to let them make the next move.

Dai quickly returned with a small glass of water and handed it to his father. "Before we go any further" he said to Luna, "I'd just like to check something. This isn't hot, so it won't hurt you." He walked over to Luna and poured a small amount of the water on her front paw.

_What the heck!_ She thought as she shook the stuff off her paw. "What was that for?" She blurted as the man stepped back with a puzzled look on his face.

"That, oh nothing, just checking something." He sat the glass down next to the wall. "So…care to tell us a little about yourself?"

Luna was glad the girl still had the composure to not throw her off her lap…yet. "Um, would you believe I'm not just a regular cat?" She looked at them with a hopeful look in her eye.

"Yeah, I think we've already figured that out!" said Riku. "Who sent you here?"

"Um…nobody…you were the one that brought me here, right?"

"She's right. You found her unconscious." Ranko said.

"You don't by chance know a Shampoo do you?" asked Ranma.

Now it was Luna's turn to look puzzled. "Shampoo? What kind of shampoo?"

"Hmmm, may not. Either way, I think you owe us an explanation, don't you think?"

Luna sweat-dropped. _Oh boy, don't really want to lie to them at this point, they already lost some trust in me. _"I'm a Mau."

"A meow?" echoed Dai.

"No, a Mau. M-A-U, Mau."

"Kinda look like a cat to me, just a talking one." Offered Riku, then he got a thoughtful look on his face. "Mom noticed she had a weird Ki signature. Said it kinda looked human, but not quite."

Ranma studied the Mau and then nodded. "She's right. It's highly shielded, but if you concentrate, you can see the hidden signature".

"Yes, we look like cats, but obviously we are quite a bit more intelligent. There aren't many of us on…um…in this country. I only know of one other at present."

Ranko "Okay, you're a special cat. A talking cat. That we just happened to pick up?"

Ranma stared at Luna for a bit longer. "I think her Ki is close enough to human that this will work. First, do you have a name? Calling you cat or Miss Kitty seems a little silly I suppose."

"Luna. My name is Luna."

"Okay Luna. I'm going to ask you just one simple question. If you lie, we'll know. You already know we can see you Ki."

"Ki?" Luna interrupted.

"Yes, Ki. You know, life force." He continued, "Anyway, I have the ability to spot changes in your Ki signature that will tell me if you are lying." Now Ranma didn't know this for a fact. He could do it with people, but he had no idea if it worked on this ca…creature, or not. "So, my one simple question to you is, do you bear any ill-will to my family or myself."

Luna looked into the man's deep blue eyes. She could feel something in what he said. It wasn't directly psychic, but he was doing something. It didn't hurt, but she could sense it all the same. _So, do I bear them ill-will? Up until I met them, I might have said yes based on Setsuna's assumptions, but now, I don't think so. They've done nothing but help me, and from what I could tell, Riku is a really good kid._

"No, I don't. Right now I'm just thankful for your help when I was hurt. If you'd like, I'll leave right now if it will make you more at ease."

Ranma stared at the Mau for a bit longer, then visibly relaxed, and released a rather charming smile. "Works for me then. Welcome to the Saotome compound."

Luna looked at the now smiling faces. "That's it? No long interrogations. No suspicions?"

"Nope" answered Riku. "If Pop says you're okay, then you are okay."

"But…but…what if I was lying?"

"One, you weren't, and two, we can take care of ourselves. Really" said Ranma.

Riku moved up to Ranko and asked. "Luna, would you like to meet Mom. Or, I guess would you like to be introduced at least?"

Luna nodded. "I'd be delighted!"

* * *

"So, has it gotten any better?" asked Rei.

Setsuna shook her head. "No, it hasn't. Now that I know how to look for the problem, I can see that only about twenty percent of the current timelines are being considered for Crystal Tokyo probabilities. At least 80 percent of the timelines are now coming back with the 'null' designation. I just don't understand what could have shifted things so much. We were careful with Hotaru, she didn't get grabbed by those people, so what could have changed."

Michiru decided to speak up. "Well, I'll tell you one thing that changed. Hotaru sure isn't happy about how we treated them. She hasn't spoken but a few words to Haruka or I since then. She doesn't understand why we should treat them they way we did after they helped us. She insists they are nice people."

Setsuna paused and thought. _Could it be, do we need to be friends with them? But then why did Rei's fire reading show that Hotaru with them was a problem? _"I don't know yet, but it could be. We may have to really sit down with Hotaru and explain the situation again. Let her know that we aren't trying to be mean, we just want to protect Crystal Tokyo."

After two days, Usagi had become concerned about Luna being missing. She finally decided to mention it now that everyone had gathered again to talk about the current situation. "Um…uh…excuse me. But has anyone seen Luna since that fight?"

Minako's eyes shot up. "Wait, are you sure she isn't with Artemis? I know he left the fight early. I thought he must have gone off with Luna. I thought they were trying to settle things between them."

Usagi visibly relaxed. "Oh, maybe that's where she is!"

Setsuna stood up and walked over to Minako and Usagi. "So you haven't seen either one of them since the battle with the Saotomes?"

The two blonde Senshi shook their heads in the negative.

"Ami, can you use the Mercury computer to locate them?" asked Makoto.

"No, you remember, that was one of the difficult traits of the Mau, They were always fanatics about their privacy. They long ago negotiated that one of the prices for them to act as advisors to the throne was that they could have their privacy. Most of the Silver Millennium equipment was specifically designed to not be able to track them."

Setsuna walked back and forth. "I don't like this. I know Luna was unhappy about us not listening to her, but I wonder if she and Artemis were hurt or….hurt in the battle." _No use getting Usagi too upset, it may be nothing._ "Ami, you and Makoto go back to the park and see if you can find out anything. Usagi, you and Minako try to see if you can find them in any of their usual hangouts." She stopped and then looked at Michiru and Haruka, "and you two see if you can talk to Hotaru, see if you can make her understand what we are trying to do."

"I just hope that Luna and Artemis are all right." Sighed Usagi.

* * *

Meanwhile, a white cat with a bandage on its head sneezed.

"Oh, I hope the kitty cat isn't getting a cold. He's still healing from where that branch fell on him a few days ago." Said the little girl who lived near the park, looking at her new rescued pet.

* * *

"Oh my! So you are a Mau? Well, I'm pleased to meet you Luna" said Kasumi

Luna still couldn't get over how accepting this family was of her existence. She expected, shock, denial, all sorts of reactions, but never pleasant introductions.

They had found Kasumi tending the garden near the bench at the overlook. Riku had introduced Luna to his mother as any child would introduce any of their new friends. Kasumi, of course, didn't bat an eye.

Kasumi put her hand to her chin "You know, somehow, I've heard of the Mau before."

"Really?" Luna squirmed a bit. "Where could you have heard about us? Hardly anybody knows we exist."

"Well, I'm not sure, but I think it might have been in the archives. I'll have to check my copy when we get back to the house." Explained Kasumi.

"Archives?"

"Oh yes, Ranma and I retrieved an extensive collection from the Amazons. They still have their copy, but we have one as well."

_Amazons…I remember talking to Setsuna about them once. If I remember correctly, they had run across Pluto enough times to at least recognize she was from the Silver Millennium _thought Luna. _I wonder how they ended up with a copy. As I recall, the Amazons weren't known for their sharing abilities._

"So how did you get a copy of their archives" asked Luna

Ranma was no longer paying attention to the conversation, as he, Dai and Ranko had lay back in the Sun and decided to doze for a bit. Only Riku and Kasumi were active in the conversation.

"Oh, that's a rather long story. Riku can probably fill you in later on the details, but Ranma and I had a little adventure many years ago where we were stranded in an Amazon village."

"Wow, that must have been tough on you being that young. Did they capture you? I've heard they can be quite unfriendly at times."

"Oh my, no." Kasumi smiled. "One of Ranma's friends tried send us to this abandoned realm of 'yesterday' where we lived for many years before we were able to return. Both Ranma and I are quite older than we look."

"Oh…I see. I was wondering how you could have children as old as yours and yet seem so young."

"We never have figured that out. There was nothing in the archives that mentioned ever getting back. Between the two of us, we managed to do so, but it seems that we never have quite…" she paused, looking for the right word. "Integrated ourselves back into this world completely. Ranma thinks that we just never synchronized back correctly."

Kasumi leaned over and whispered into Luna's ear. "Just between us girls, would you believe I'm almost 60 years old?"

Kasumi leaned back, and Luna studied her carefully. Either this oh so pleasant woman was completely loony…or… _Wasn't Setsuna's problem about the Time Gates not being able to analyze the temporal probabilities due to a possible outside source? I wonder…._

Riku finally cut in. "So how long can you stay here Luna? I…kinda…liked your company." He mumbled at the end.

Luna looked at the young boy, whom she'd recently learned was somewhat lonely. _If I stay here, I can learn more about them. If I go back now, Setsuna may still just ignore me, but if I get more information….plus…I kind of like it here. I'm not an advisor, to be listened, or not listened to. I get to have some friends finally…plus, I could always stay a few more days for Kasumi's cooking. Gah! I'm starting to sound like Usagi!_

Luna looked at the boy. "Oh, I'm sure I can stay a bit longer. If it's all right? You've already been exceptionally kind."

"Why Luna, you can stay as long as you want" beamed Kasumi.

* * *

That night, as Ranma and Kasumi lay down for bed, Kasumi rolled on her side and whispered "Ranma, you still awake?"

"Mmmmm"

"Ranma, I need you to do me a favor."

"Mmmm..whatizit?"

"I know it sounds strange, but…I'd like you to make an effort to not show your curse to anyone new for a while." She could feel his body return to wakefulness. She had his full attention now.

Ranma rolled from his back to face Kasumi. "Why? What's going on?"

Kasumi frowned slightly. After all these years, a frown by Kasumi, however slight, was enough to send every warning bell off in Ranma's head. "Is something wrong?" he asked, much more urgently than before.

"No, not really. And Luna is no threat…it's just…I had a…dream a few nights ago. You know how you have your dreams all the time? Well, maybe I had one like it. At the time, I thought it was just a strange dream, but now…well, I figure it doesn't hurt to take this precaution. And no, I'm not going to go into details, because I'll just feel silly. And I'm not particularly worried about Luna, but the Senshi we fought the other day…well…I just think it would be a good idea if they didn't know about the curse."

"Why the curse?" asked Ranma.

"Believe it or not, I'm not sure…I just think that somehow…it's a good idea to just keep that bit of information to ourselves for a while. I know that if you want, you can keep the water away from you now."

Ranma looked at Kasumi's eyes. Hell, he could never deny her anything. If she said it would be a good idea, Ranma trusted her.

"No problem, consider it done."

Kasumi leaned forward and gave him a kiss. "Thank you". One of the things that made Ranma so special was his unwavering trust in her, and this is one time that she felt it was nice not to have to justify her every request.

* * *

Usagi was getting desperate. Luna was nowhere to be found, and nobody wanted to help find her. It boiled down to most of them thinking that Luna was off sulking somewhere. She was presently searching the town around the park where they last battled the youma. Every day after school she went looking for her friend, but nobody had seemed to know anything about her.

* * *

Luna was currently lying in the sun near the window at the front of the house. She was semi-comatose after just having finished another simply wonderful meal that Kasumi had prepared.

_This must be what it's like to go on a vacation._ She thought to herself. The life of the Senshi was so filled with chaos that she'd almost forgotten what it was like to relax.

She shifted her glance to see the youngest, Riku, lying in the sun with her. _He's such a sweetheart_ she mused. He'd quickly adjusted to her being able to carry on a conversation with him, and soon was talking her little pointed ears off. It wasn't that his family treated him poorly. Goodness knows that Luna had had plenty of time to observe the Saotomes this last week. As near as she could tell, they were one of the nicest, most peaceful families she'd ever known…well…that is with the exception of the absolutely ridiculous training they went through every day. She had now observed several of the "training" sessions that occurred in the special dojo under the large tree. After watching the Saotomes practice, particularly Ranma and Kasumi, she had serious doubts about the ability of the Senshi to overcome their combat skills.

She lay there in the Sun, contemplating the people she'd come to already think of as friends. The kids were all sweethearts in their own way. A bit rambunctious, but she could tell they all had hearts of gold. Ranma was without a doubt a master of his art, and she was sure she'd seen only a part of his skills so far. Kasumi…Kasumi was a real surprise. Peaceful, calm, a wonderful mother…and yet in the dojo it was if she had a completely different personality. All in all, Luna had already decided that whoever…whatever they were, the Saotomes were not some evil force trying to fight the Senshi.

Kasumi finally broke the silence. "So Luna, have you decided how long you'll be able to stay and visit?"

Luna turned her head to the left so she could look at Kasumi. "Oh, I should get going in a day or two, but you can guarantee I'll be back to visit."

"That's wonderful. I'm sure Riku and I would love the company. Visit whenever you would like".

That was another surprising find. For as much as Luna enjoyed Riku's company, she enjoyed talking to Kasumi just as much. When it came down to it, Setsuna wasn't exactly a chatterbox, and talking to the other Senshi was like talking to a bunch of kids…which, after all, is what they basically still were. Not that Riku was that old, but all the Saotome children had an underlying maturity that made it pleasant to talk with them. Kasumi on the other hand…the woman was a gem. Not only was she the best cook that Luna had ever met, but she was a fascinating person to talk to. Her time with Ranma had made her a unique combination of adventurer and peacemaker. Luna would often sit and talk to the elder Saotome for hours while the kids were working out with Ranma.

Suddenly, Luna saw Kasumi's attention abruptly shift, and then saw Ranma get to his feet out of the corner of her eye.

"What, what's wrong?" asked Luna, for clearly, something was.

"Kids, we've got company. I think it's them. Stay close, and be ready." Instructed Ranma.

"Them? Who's them?" Luna asked.

"Ssshh". Riku said, as he came over and scooped Luna up. "Keep quiet and come with us, there are some people in the compound who may try to hurt my parents."

"Who?" asked Luna in a quiet voice.

"Some old Amazon with a grudge against Mom and Pop. Pop told us that they might visit us soon, and I guess he was right."

Luna thought for a moment. _Amazons…as in the village where Ranma and Kasumi were trapped._ Her ears went back as her concern grew. "Why are they mad at your parents?"

"As I understand it, there was a girl, named Shampoo, who always wanted Pop for a husband. Never forgave Mom and Pop for getting married and giving her the cold shoulder."

Luna kept quiet as they made their way to the large backyard between the house and the dojo. She didn't hear or smell anyone close by, but Ranma and Kasumi seemed to be glancing in one direction as if they did. They eventually stopped, and Riku put Luna down and said "Stay behind us. It'll be safer."

"How do your parents know someone is here?" she finally whispered to no one in particular.

Ranko turned to her and answered. "It's something about the Wa of the land. Mom first learned to do it for the house, and then she got good with sensing the whole property. It's sorta like an extension of her. Pop learned it too. He hates it when somebody knows how to do something that he doesn't. Makes for a great alarm system though."

They stood and watched a section of woods for a few more minutes, and eventually a woman with purple hair and a man with long black hair in a white robe broke through the woods and started towards them.

"Is that them?" Dai asked his father.

"Yup. That's them…Shampoo and Mousse. I owe it to Cologne to try to go easy on them, but be ready for anything, and if they want to fight, well, anything goes…protect your selves."

The Saotome group stood silently and watched Shampoo and Mousse come closer. Luna saw that Shampoo was holding some type of large metal balls on some poles, while Mousse seemed to be empty handed.

Eventually, the two stopped about 30 feet from the Saotomes. She estimated that the woman and man both looked to be mid 30s in age.

Finally Ranma broke the silence. "So Shampoo, what brings you to visit Japan?"

"I challenge you." She pointed at Kasumi, not even acknowledging Ranma's question.

Luna watched Kasumi to see what her reaction was to this strange challenge. She was surprised to see a sad look pass over her face before she answered. "Shampoo, must we do this?"

"Yes, I challenge you for your mate. If I win, he is mine."

Ranma shook his head. "Shampoo, you know we're going to have to take you back to the village. Why do you do this? You know you can't beat us."

Shampoo ignored Ranma, and stared with narrow eyes at Kasumi. "This between us women. I no talk to your male."

Ranma gave a deep sigh and turned to his wife. "Kasumi, do you want help with this or not."

Kasumi still had the slightly sad look on her face. "No thank you. It would probably be best if I handled this myself. Just keep an eye on Mousse in case he wants to run off".

"You got it." said Ranma.

"Very well Shampoo. If you insist." Kasumi shifted her stance, but it was still the relaxed Saotome opening stance that Shampoo had seen so many times before with Ranma.

They stood for a while, each waiting for the other to make the first move. Ranma knew that Kasumi knew better than to make the first move, so he wasn't surprised to see Shampoo finally break from her stance and quickly touch the ground in front of Kasumi. A cry of _Bakusai Tenketsu _proceeded the spray of shrapnel which Kasumi blocked with a quick Ki shield. Shampoo quickly slammed against the shield with a look of surprise that almost made Ranma burst out laughing. Kasumi quickly dropped the shield and grabbed Shampoo's left arm and proceeded to flip her to the other side of the field where she plowed into the ground.

Shampoo shook her head to clear the little birdies that were circling. _Thank the gods they weren't ducks._ She thought to herself before leaping to the attack again.

What followed was a particularly humiliating defeat for Shampoo. No matter what attack she tried, she failed to get through Kasumi's defenses. The Kachü Tenshin Amaguriken failed miserably, as Kasumi deflected each and every blow with ease, the Splitting Cat Hairs was a total failure, as Kasumi failed to be swayed by any of the false images, and even when Shampoo used a few secret Amazon techniques that she knew her Great-Grandmother hadn't taught Ranma, her opponent still had flawless defensive moves to each one. Shampoo finally stood panting, staring at Kasumi with malice in her eyes.

"Shampoo, please cease this attack" Kasumi offered. "I really don't want to hurt you, but if that is what it takes to end this battle, then I will."

"Shampoo no admit defeat." She spat.

Kasumi noted a quick look toward Moose and a small nod of her head before Shampoo once again attacked.

Once again, every move she made against Kasumi was easily rebuffed, after a few moments, Kasumi finally went on the offensive, at speeds that made the Amaguriken seemed slow, targeting Shampoo's vulnerable points. Shampoo was out before she even started to fall.

At the moment Mousse saw her start to fall, he withdrew a large canister from his hidden weapons space and lobbed it toward the children. At its apex, he pulled out a firearm of all things and targeted the thrown container. His first shot hit his target and the container exploded into a shower of liquid that sprayed down toward the kids beneath it.

The moment all three Saotome children saw the liquid appear, the years of training kicked in and all three brought up their personal shields against the incoming spray. In the meantime Mousse had turned to Ranma and Kasumi and shouted "Shampoo sends you her best, and hopes your sons have as much fun with their new curse as you did!"

Mousse had his usual look of satisfaction as he stopped to watch the effects of the Nyannichuan. _That's odd_ he thought_ it looks like the spray is bouncing off something around each of them. _As the shower settled, he was disappointed to see all three children unchanged by the application of the cursed water. He didn't expect it to have any effect on the daughter, but surely the sons would have changed somewhat. And who was the fourth girl that appeared within their group?

Mousse didn't have any more time to ponder the mysteries of the water when two rather impressive Ki blasts slammed him into the side of the hill. The children immediately looked to the left to see both of their parents in post-attack postures, each having unleashed a significant Moko Takabashi at Mousse.

In turning her head to the left, Ranko noticed a new girl standing in their midst. She had pale skin, long black hair and nothing else on. Being familiar with the affects of Jusenkyo water, and realizing what Mousse had launched at them, allowed her to quickly realize who the newcomer was.

"Dai! Riku! Don't turn around just yet!"

"Wha-" they of course both started to turn around.

"I said DON'T TURN AROUND!"

They stopped, and then returned their gaze to their parents.

"Luna. Is that you?" she said in a soft voice.

* * *

The Mau was still trying to process that massive shift in perception that the change had wrought. When the water first hit, there was a twisting, dizzying sensation that ended with her perspective at a much higher height accompanied by a sudden chill on her now bare skin.

She looked down at herself and realized she had been transformed. But this transformation wasn't like what she and Artemis were capable of when they wanted to assume human guise. When that had happened, she was still a Mau. The human form was more illusion than real, this…this was completely different. There was no connection to magic in this form, there was just…having a new body.

She looked up to see the man who had thrown the liquid be slammed by two energy attacks, and then heard Ranko yell at the two boys in front of her to not turn around. It was followed by a quiet "Luna. Is that you?"

She turned around to see Ranko staring intently at her. She nodded her head slightly.

"It's okay" Ranko said. "Don't panic. You probably just got splashed with some water from the Nyannīchuan, which is 'Spring of drowned Girl'. It's the same thing that happened to my Dad. It can be reversed with some warm water, but cold water will change you back to what you are now."

"C-c-c-cold…." She whispered.

Ranko ran over to grab one of the blankets her mom had brought out to lay on earlier. She draped it over the newly-formed girl. "Here, that should help".

"Thank you."

"Okay, you can turn around now" Ranko instructed her brothers.

Dai and Riku finally turned toward Ranko and Luna. They had already heard what Ranko had told Luna, so they weren't overly surprised to see a young, black-haired girl wrapped in a blanket looking at both of them.

She was young, she looked around Dai or Riku's age. She had large blue eyes that first looked at Dai, then settled on Riku.

"Are you okay" Riku finally asked her.

She cleared her throat, obviously trying to get used to her new voice, and then finally said "Yes, I think so. Why did they do that?" She nodded over to Shampoo and Mousse, who had this point had been tied up, knocked out and still guarded by Ranma.

Kasumi had arrived at their group by this time and answered her. "Shampoo has…issues with their father and I. I imagine that she felt that cursing Ranma's sons with the same curse as he has would be the best way to hurt Ranma." She paused and looked over at the two Amazons on the ground. "Fortunately, Ranma had foreseen this possibility long ago and trained all of us in deflecting water. Mousse had threatened to use water from the spring of drowned duck on Akane long ago, so he felt that it was something to be prepared for. Unfortunately, we never considered training them to protect bystanders.

"Wait. I heard Mouse yell something about Ranma's curse when he threw the water." Luna asked.

Ranma sighed, and walked over to the picnic and grabbed some water. "Luna, we haven't asked a lot of you since you've been here, but one thing I'd like you to keep to yourself is what I'm going to show you. It will help you understand what has happened to you, but I'd still like to keep this between us. Promise?"

Luna paused for a moment, she hated making promises, they had a way of haunting you in the end, but the Saotomes had been wonderful to her these last few days, and she hadn't detected a hint of ulterior motives in anything they'd done. "I promise."

Ranma dumped the water over his head, and immediately changed into his female form. Luna stared at her for a while, noting the multitude of changes that Ranma went through.

"Was that the same water that splashed me?" she finally asked.

"No, unfortunately this was just plain water. Once you've been splashed with water from the Nyannichuan, cold water activates the curse. Both you and I were splashed with the same water, so we turn into young girls when splashed with cold water. If you use warm water, you revert back to your original form…well at least until the next time cold water gets you."

Ranma proceeded to give the new Luna a quick history on the ins and outs of Jusnekyo as the party returned to the house. Ranko took Luna to the bathroom to demonstrate the curse to her, and eventually Luna came back out in her natural form.

"So whenever I'm splashed, I turn into a human?" she asked Ranma.

"I'm afraid so. It's funny, I knew quite a few people who were cursed to become animals, but you're the first ani…non-human that is cursed to turn into a human." He paused and then added "I'm really sorry about this Luna. If there is one constant factor in my life, is that chaos surrounds me, and unfortunately anybody who seems to associate with me. I am sorry. And the worst part is, that water will now actively try to seek you out, making you change forms at the worst of times."

Luna had been flooded with so many thoughts and emotions during the last hour. At first there was the obvious shock of losing her natural body. What surprised her was the interesting connection she had to her new form.

When she and Artemis had assumed human shapes before, there was a huge difference. That had been magically enabled, and was a really just a disconnected "costume" that they could wear when the need arose. This, this was so much different. As a Mau, most of their input was from hearing, smell and sight, this new body however. It was a bit of a shock to lose the sharper eyesight, but now she could see in color! She always wanted to know what it was like when the Senshi talked about this or that color, but now she knew! It was marvelous. Losing the better sense of smell wasn't to alarming, although she didn't like how muted the world sounded in her human form.

What surprised he most was the gain of touch and taste! Without fur, she could feel the fabric of the towel that was wrapped around her when she returned to the house, but that was nothing compared to the cookie that Riku handed to her right before she got to the front door! The taste…was indescribable. She never considered that the humans had such an advanced sense of taste! She almost fell to her knees from the tastes that exploded in her mouth from one of Kasumi's cookies.

All and all, she wasn't as weirded out as she would have thought she would have been.

She finally snapped out of her musings and replied to Ranma. "Don't worry, it wasn't your fault, and at least when I transform, I can still speak."

"True, true." He agreed.

Just then Ranko passed by with a drink, and her foot caught the edge of the rug just right. This of course caused her to catch her balance, but in the process a small amount of liquid spilled from the cup and landed on Luna, causing her to change to her human form once again.

Ranma quickly shifted his gaze to the opposite wall and said "However, the lack of clothes for your change will probably be a bit of a problem…."

* * *

"So, did you ship them out?" Kasumi asked?

"Sure did. Took 'em to the Vet first to get tranquilized then shipped them to China. Paid the Vet to accompany them to ensure they got another tranquilizer as needed." Ranma told her. "The Vet's assistant was happy to get a paid trip to China, so it worked out well. I'll be surprised if either get returned to normal after this stunt. They've disgraced the Amazon's by attacking us and as I remember, the punishment is quite severe."

* * *

Luna decided to stay a bit longer at the Saotome's to get used to her curse before returning home. Ranma was right, it seemed impossible to avoid being splashed, and the constant lack of clothing proved to be such an embarrassment that Luna finally decided to stay human for the last few days instead of flashing the innocent bystanders on a daily basis.

What surprised her the most during the week was how quickly she and Riku were becoming even better friends. In her human form, their friendship rapidly blossomed as they had even more in common, and Riku was more than happy to have someone to accompany him in his trips into town. It was funny because in her Mau form, the Senshi still treated her as being "different", but here, with Riku, she felt truly accepted by someone for the first time in her life. True, Artemis and she were friends, but it was more a working relationship that a true friendship.

Eventually, the day came when Luna knew she had to return to Usagi and let her know what had happened. Since she didn't want to have to explain her relationship with the Senshi, she decided to return alone, and after giving her thanks and goodbyes to almost everybody, she saved Riku for the last.

"So, you really have to go back?" Riku quietly asked.

"Yes, I'm afraid so, but I'll be back! I promise."

"Really? I'm kinda worried I won't see you again…and…well…I really like you Luna."

Luna looked at his nearly whole body blush, and was truly flattered. Not only did she like his company, but he really liked her for who she was, not what she could do for him, in fact she knew that she liked her company both as a human and a Mau.

On the other hand, there was an age difference, although she'd be dammed if she could figure out how to calculate it. As a human, she was his age. There was nothing unusual about a relationship between the two of them…and yes, she knew she had seen a lot in her lifetimes, but this boy…heck his whole family, really did seem different. True, Riku had the energy and enthusiasm of a young boy, but his family had already made him a very mature child.

The mature, clinical part of her personality almost won the argument…almost. But in the end, she couldn't deny how alive she felt when she was with this boy.

"That's good Riku, I really like you too. Don't worry, I'll be back." She hesitated, then decided to go with her heart. "Riku, would you mind taking me most of the way back to Juuban?"

She knew she asked the right question when she saw his face light up. "Sure! Let me tell Pop! I'll be right back!"

She smiled as she saw him race back into the house.

* * *

"Do you always travel this way?" Luna asked with wide eyes and blown hair. She had expected a fairly long journey to Juuban, even with the available trains, instead, they had only taken 20 minutes of an insane combination of sprinting, tree branch and roof hopping to get within a few minutes of Usagi's house.

When Riku came back out of the house and scooped her up, her first reaction was shock and then disorientation. Sure she had been carried around as a Mau, but for this boy to be carrying her as a human was, well, was breathtaking.

"Sure. Mom and Pop aren't much for public transportation, and Pop tries to make everything training. I started roof hoping when I was eight, and when I was ten my brother and sister and I took turns carrying each other to get a better workout." He gently put her down. "Did you like it?"

"It was fantastic!"

That earned her another blush from Riku. "Well, thanks. Glad you liked it. Did Mom give you our number?"

Luna lifted the bag of cookies that she had been holding on to during the journey. "Sure did, packed them with the cookies. We figured it should help lessen the shock for Usagi. She's a sucker for good food."

Luna saw him lean toward her. _No, he wouldn't_ she immediately thought, but Riku did plant a quick kiss on her cheek. "G'bye Luna. Call me soon!" Riku turned and hopped onto the nearby wall, then the roof of the house and leaped away.

Luna stood there dazed for a few moments, and finally reached up and touched her cheek. _A kiss. I haven't been kissed since…_ and the worst part was she couldn't remember. She'd always been the level headed advisor, nobody saw her as anything more than a professional confidant.

She waited a few more moments, then turned and started walking to the house.

* * *

Usagi heard a knock on the door. "I'll get it Mom!" she yelled as she left her room and went to the front door.

When she opened the door, she saw a girl, slightly younger than herself dressed in some jeans and simple white blouse. She looked vaguely familiar, but Usagi couldn't place where she'd seen her. "Yes, can I help you."

Luna and Kasumi had decided that a quick, honest approach was the best tactic when Jusenkyo was involved. They also both agreed that it was best to show up in her cursed form rather than have some stranger splash her moments before she could make it to the house. "Usagi, I know this may be hard to believe, but it's me, Luna."

Usagi stared at her for a few heartbeats, the puzzled look never changing on her face. "Luna?"

Luna rolled her eyes. "Yes Luna! You know, looks like a black cat, crescent on her forehead. L-U-N-A"

Finally Usagi put two and two together, only it still came out as five. "Look, I'm not sure who you are, or who this black cat you are talking about is, but I am sure that I don't know who you are."

"_Sailor Moon" _she whispered, "_If you can get me a glass of hot water, I'll be able to explain everything."_


End file.
